Man, 25 years ago. So where was I 25 years ago tonight when the most famous ground ball in baseball history went through the wickets of Bill Buckner?

I wasn’t at the game, I was home watching with my wife as we were in month seven of our marriage. The only game of the series I attend was Game 1, the game that turned on a ball getting through the legs of Tim Teufel, a play that gets lost in the Buckner Blunder, ruining a beautifully pitched game by Ron Darling with help from Roger McDowell.  

One of the issues with watching Mets games on TV back in ’86 was Bay Ridge Brooklyn was NOT wired for cable television back then. There was a whole quagmire with franchise rights by the cable companies, if you wanted the lucrative Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights account you had to take the less desirable East New York, Flatbush area as well. So after all the graft and bribes were dished out, I think it wasn’t until 1988 when we Bay Ridgeites  got  hooked up to Time-Warner Cable, so back in ’86 I spent most of my time in the numerous bars of Bay Ridge that were equipped with these enormous satellite dishes on their roofs to watch Mets game televised on SportsChannel.  So when games were on “free TV” I’d give my wallet and liver a break and stay home.

Game 6 was on a Saturday night, I remember we went for an unusually early dinner (my kids have a hard time believing that the same couple who fall asleep on the couch at 9PM used to go out until 4 or 5 the next morning on a regular basis. It’s the same way their stare at our wedding picture in which I have this incredible crop of curly brown hair. The tilt their heads from side to side like it’s some abstract painting in a gallery trying to figure out who the guy is with their mom. Lovely.) and then came home. Before getting home I stopped at the deli on 5^th Ave to pick up some Molson Golden for my game libation. My wife sat with me for the first few innings (she is not big on watching Baseball or any sport on TV, she’ll go a games in person and enjoy it but to sit and watch on TV? Ain’t happening) then decided she go to the bedroom and watch something else. Of course she fell asleep, so it was just me, Vin Scully (Mets fans were very upset with Scully’s critiques of the Mets during this series)  Joe Garagiola and my six bottles of Molson.

Everyone knows about the bottom of the 10^th inning of this game but the inning that gets lost in history is the bottom of the 8^th where the Mets were down a run. Former Met, Calvin Schiraldi comes in for the Red Sox to help preserve the lead and bridge to Bob Stanley, the Boston closer. After a Lee Mazzilli (pinch hitting for Jesse Orosco) leadoff single, Davey Johnson went against the Earl Weaver book he was weaned on, to play small ball. Lenny Dykstra comes up (by the way after six Molson on top of the cocktails I had at dinner, I’m now talking to the TV like I’m sitting with Scully and Garagiola. I wish there was Twitter back then, my drunked Tweets would have been memorable) and lays down a sac bunt that he beats out, so now the Mets have 1^st and 2^nd no outs.  Wally Backman comes up and he lays down a sac bunt that moves Maz to 3^rd and Nails to 2^nd after an Intentional Walk to Keith Hernandez to set up a double play at any base, up stepped Gary Carter.

Here is why Mets fans love Gary Carter, nobody loves a pressure situation and came through in those situations like Kid.  That’s why when you sit in Citi Field and the Get Well Soon video comes on the screen, everyone stops and watches. That’s why when I see Ron Darling in the Stand Up For Cancer PSA, with his I Stand Up For My Catcher sign, I get a lump in my throat. Gary Carter was a great Met, retire his #8 PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I digress, Kid comes though with a Sac Fly scoring Maz and we are tied at 3.

After the top of the 10^th where Rick Aguilera gave up 2 runs, all I need is a hand gun as I’ve turned into Elvis Presley , looking to shoot my TV. After two quick outs in the bottom of the 10^th I am one ornery intoxicated Mets fan, with my TV remote in my hand I was ready to turn off the set as there was no way I was watching the Red Sox celebrate this World Series (the pain of 1973 was flashing through my mind) but then, he comes that man again, Gary Carter with the base hit but here I was pissed at Kid for that hit. Please put me out of my misery already but my misery turned to ecstasy.

“HONEY, WAKE UP! WAKE UP! THEY WON!!! THEY WON!!! THE METS WON!!!! YYYYYYEEEEAAAAHHHHHH!!!! GAME FUCKIN’SEVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”

My wife thought I’d lost my mind, I told get up and get dressed we got to go out. She looked at me like I was nuts but then she heard all the commotion coming from 5^th Ave and then the phone started ringing as friends and family wanting to talk about the most improbable win in Mets history. There was no sleep that night/early mornings, bars and clubs of Bay Ridge were hoppin’ till sunrise and so was I.

On this date in 1966, the Mets traded Jim Hickman and Ron Hunt to the Dodgers for the pride of Boy’s High in Brooklyn, Tommy Davis. Davis lasted one season with the Mets as he was delt along with Jack Fisher to the White Sox for Tommie Agee and Al Weis .

I think we can now stop with all the questions of Terry Collins about the 1999 Angels and his eight year old DUI. I give Collins a lot of credit and it shows he has patients as I would have told the media to go fuck off by now.  Collins has also shown he won’t throw players under the bus as in all the stories you hear about that Angels team, the main culprit in the uprising was Mo Vaughn, one of the biggest fucking quitters in baseball history.  

Nice to see Ollie Perez is the Tom Seaver of the Mexican Winter League. Maybe Sandy Alderson can work out a deal with any team in the Mexican League for Perez. I’d take a couple of roosters (for cock fighting purposes, of course) two cases of Bohemia Beer and an enchilada to be named later.

Ed Ryan makes the case that Carlos Beltran’s contract might not be so prohibited that he could be dealt. The way Ed puts it out there, with the Mets picking up $5mil of the deferred dough in the deal that would live Beltran owed $13 mil for the season.   Would Theo Epstein be an interested buyer?

I wouldn’t be looking for John Maine Bobble Head Day on the 2011 promotional schedule.

R.I.P. Frank Drebin and don’t call me Shirley.

Joe Janish brings up a name from the past RHP Pedro Beato, that at one time had my blood boil. Beato pitched for Xaverian H.S. in Bay Ridge and was drafted by the Mets, who due to their lock step way with the Used Car Salesman, were talked out of going over slot to sign him. Beato went back into the draft the next year, and was drafted by the Orioles who had no problem going over slot to give the right handed putcher the same $1mil bonus the Mets were told they couldn’t give out. Well, Beato could be a Rule 5’er and maybe an interesting pitcher to place in the Mets bullpen for 2011.

Who has December 1 in the “When will Pat Riley take over as coach of the Heat”?

Finally an athlete figures out that God doesn’t give a shit about a sporting event.

Javier Vasquez signs a one year deal with the Fish for $7mil with a no trade clause (duh!) and a provision that the Fish cannot offer Vasquez arbitration. Not bad for a suck ass pitcher.

Tom Brady is the NFL MVP and the best QB in the game and one of the three best of all time (Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana, then Brady who is ready to move past Montana) if you want to argue this, talk to the hand.

Joe Posnanski hits another blog post out of the park, this time taking on the “closer”. I’m really, really hoping that the new Mets brain trust thinks like Posnanski and uses Frankie Rodriguez (if he’s still with the team) in the 7^th and or 8^th inning.

Tonight is hockey night as I’m headed to MSG for Rangers-Penguins. If you are not of the hockey fan persuasion, the NY Rangers are what we could hope the Mets will be in 2011. They have a lot of young, talent and dedicated players, who while learning the ropes of the NHL, grind out game after game. They have two superstars in Henrik Lundqvist  and Marian Gaborik and two young players in Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan, who are having break out seasons on the ice and in the locker room as the new leaders of this team. The team also sticks up for one and other (something that has not been seen with the Rangers in years) and are becoming a tough team to play. Cindy Crosby better have some vagina protection on tonight.

Just heard the sad news that former NY Giant,and the man who hit the most famous home run in baseball history, Bobby Thomson has passed away.

I had the great pleasure of meeting Thomson and if you didn’t better, you’d never know he was not just an ex-baseball player but a player who hit the Shot Heard Around The World. He was very soft spoken and awfully polite when I met hm at an event to commemorate the 1951 season (my dad was a die-hard Giants fan and Thomson and Carl Hubbell were his two favorite Giants of all time)  but when the name of Sal Yvars was brought up, it brought out the Scottsman’ temper. Yvars was the player who claimed he gave Thomson and other Giants tip offs on what pitches were coming by stealing the opposing catchers signs using a telescope while Yvars was perched by a window in centerfield of the Polo Grounds.

Condolences to the Thomson family

I guess congratulations are in order to Andre Dawson for his election into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Hawk was a solid baseball player and from what you read, was a very nice guy and it seems as long as you’re a very nice guy to the media, you eventually get in the Hall. That would explain why Albert Belle is no longer on the ballot. Belle was an unbelievable offensive player putting up big numbers and one of the great run producers of his time, but the guy made Ron Artest look stable. It’s not just that Belle was a nasty sumnabitch, I honestly think the reporters covering the teams he played for and the out of town media we’re scared shit of him. The only way for payback is to not just keep in out of the HOF but knock him off the ballot altogether.

The only segment of baseball fans that doesn’t have bad feeling for Robbie Alomar not getting in the HOF, are Mets fans. During the reign of the Alomar disaster in Queens, I was dining in one of my favorite spots, the RF food pavilion at Shea Stadum, when I encounter a guy wearing an ALOMAR 12 uni top. When I mentioned that he was one brave Mets fan to wear that jersey, he told me his was a cousin of Alomar’s. We spoke for while and I ask Robbie’s cuz, “what’s the problem with your cousin” he told me the whole family was stumped. He said Alomar was so happy to be in NYC as there was a lot of family there to keep him happy but the cuz then said “he feels like he can’t do it anymore”  The problem that Mets fan had with Alomar was he was coming here off a strong year in Cleveland .336/.415/.541/.956 20HR 100 RBI 30SB so when the deal was made to come to the Mets, we were farting through silk WHAT AN ACQUISTION!!! But what followed was one of the classic crash and burns of a player in baseball history. All said in done, Alomar should have gone in as a first ballot HOF’er his Mets years aside, he is one of the greatest 2^nd basemen of all time.

Supposedly 5 voters sent back blank ballots, two of which are Jay Mariotti and Lisa Olson of AOL. Mind-boggling!.  I know it’s in vogue to call Mariotti a douche bag but a few years ago, Mariotti did a radio show on the defunct One On One Radio Network (620 AM here in NYC) along with Jim Lytke of the AP. It was one of the better sports radio shows I’ve listened to. Mariotti was not the dickhead he has evolved into today. As for Olson, she has always sent in a blank ballot since becoming eligible to vote. I don’t know what to say about that but why even be a member of the BBWA?   The Hall of Fame would be better off letting bloggers pick the Hall members; at least we’d take it seriously.

I have had the pleasure of meeting both Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry and both are delightful guys. Even with all the troubles they have had in their personnel lives, they are still embraced by Mets fans and they have both found renewed love for the franchise and it’s fans. A Doc Gooden start at Shea was a happening, a festival a celebration of Mets baseball that has not been matched since. The sight of Darryl Strawberry whipping that bat and hitting tape measure home runs reminds us of when the Mets were the toast of the town and I am so happy that both guys have come home again and have nuzzled in the Mets family bosoms but with all that I’m not ready to retire their numbers.

 

I agree 100 % that management needs to embrace its past more and the one knock I’ve heard about $iti Field is the lack of a presence of Mets history. I’m still waiting to here what the plans are the 40^th Anniversary of one of the most famous teams in baseball history winning the World Series (and why no patch on the uni top sleeve for this anniversary?) . Not just that, in this the first season of $iti why couldn’t management bring back the old fan favorites like Banner Day or an Old Timers Day (I still like my idea of brining back every player who ever played for the Mets for the opening day ceremony to start a new era in Mets history and passing of the torch if you will)

 

Maybe someday the Skill Sets will re-connect with its fan base a fan base that is true Orange and Blue and gives way more to the organization than it ever gets in return.

 

As much as I love the Mets, I’ve always had a bit of a fascination with the Boston Red Sox. Part of that comes from Boston being the place my father settle in with his brothers and sister came to the U.S. from Ireland and that I have family there and I love spending summers on Cape Cod. As a kid whenever the Sox played on the Game of the Week or against the Highlanders I always made it my business to take in those games. In his new book It Was Never About The Babe,(published by Skyhorse Publishing) author Jerry M. Gutlon breaks the myths of curses and bad luck that have become folk law in Red Sox Nation.

Gutlon uncovers how misguided anti-Semitism by AL President Ban Johnson towards Harry Frazee (Frazee was not Jewish but Johnson believed he was) that forced Frazee to trade Babe Ruth to the Highlanders. The author also uncovers the racism and wild decisions made by Tom Yawkey under the influence of alcohol that were an embarrassment to the organization and set the franchise back decades.

Now under the guiding hands of Theo Epstein, Larry Luchino and John Henry the Red Sox have become the model franchise in baseball combing statistical work along with good old fashion bird dog scouting and using their vast revenues to build the team on the major league level and keep the farm system fertile.

Even if you are not a Red Sox fan, Gutlon’ book is a great read for any one interested in baseball history.

Not only could Dock pitch whale trippin’ he had a kick ass attitude when it came to taking no shit from the opposition like when it came to the Big Red Machine:

 

{Perhaps Ellis’ most startling act occurred on May 1, 1974, when he tied a major league record by hitting three batters in a row. In spring training that year, Ellis sensed the Pirates had lost the aggressiveness that drove them to three straight division titles from 1970 to 1972. Furthermore, the team now seemed intimidated by Cincinnati’s “Big Red Machine.” “Cincinnati will bullshit with us and kick our ass and laugh at us,” Ellis said. “They’re the only team that talk about us like a dog.” Ellis single-handedly decided to break the Pirates out of their emotional slump, announcing that “We gonna get down. We gonna do the do. I’m going to hit these motherfuckers.” True to his word, in the first inning of the first regular-season game he pitched against the Reds, Ellis hit leadoff batter Pete Rose in the ribs, then plunked Joe Morgan in the kidney, and loaded the bases by hitting Dan Driessen in the back. Tony Perez, batting cleanup, dodged a succession of Ellis’ pitches to walk and force in a run. The next hitter was Johnny Bench. “I tried to deck him twice,” Ellis recalled. “I threw at his jaw, and he moved. I threw at the back of his head, and he moved.” At this point, Pittsburgh manager Danny Murtaugh removed Ellis from the game. But his strategy worked: the Pirates snapped out of their lethargy to win a division title in 1974, while the Reds failed to win their division for the first time in three years.}

 

and the man had the balls to wear hair curlers 

Ellis did time with the Mets back in 1979 when he was at the end of his career, too bad as his attitude would be a breath of fresh air in Flushing these days. 

Big tip of the Blue and Orange Mets cap to BBTF for the fantastic link.