Sunday, June 28, 2009

Radio Mets: The Hits Do NOT Keep On Coming!

Yankees 5, Mets 0. That's 4 out of 5, and the clinching of the season series, which Met fans should care about a lot more than Yankee Fans by now. Chuckle chuckle smirk smirk.

A.J. Burnett allows one hit, in the 6th. Afterward, Michael Kay and 2 guys who pitched no-hitters after leaving the Mets, David Cone and Al Leiter, spend the rest of that inning on the YES Network talking about Sandy Koufax, the signature pitcher of the 1960s, who pitched 4 no-hitters. Kay cued up a clip of Koufax's windup, and said, "Break it down." And Leiter said, "I can't believe I'm breaking down Sandy Koufax's mechanics!"

Cone explained it pretty well, though, talking about how Koufax used his entire back -- from neck to shoulders to spine to tush -- to generate enough power to make his curveball as fast as most pitchers' fastballs, and his fastballs something you could hear from the dugout, but not see from the batter's box.

Koufax, who pitched his entire career (1955-66) with the Dodgers, had to retire at age 31 due to injury, became the youngest-ever inductee to the Hall of Fame at 36, and is now 73 and, last I heard, living in Florida.

Anyway, in their last 18 innings, all against the Yankees, the Mets have gotten hits in exactly 2 of them -- 4 hits total. Granted, "the Initial Boys," CC Sabathia (he doesn't use periods) and A.J. Burnett (he does use them)j, are pretty good pitchers. And the Mets have had some injuries. Still...

Now it can be told: It's not that Citi Field is a dampening field for sluggers, it's that the Mets can't hit!

Injuries? The Yankees have 'em, too. As Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina would say, "Don't cry for me, Argentina!"

Speaking of whom, can you imagine if Manny Ramirez (for example) were to leave a baseball team for 5 days without telling them where he went? He'd be gone. But Sanford isn't resigning.

Tonight, the Yanks and Mets close it out in the Sunday night (N)ESPN telecast with El Baldo and the Little Red Machinist. Chien-Ming Wang is pitching. This could be a turning point: If Wang can pitch well -- and against these banjo hitters the Mets have, he'd better -- it could be a very enjoyable summer.

Now, if only I could afford to go to some games!

1 comment:

nutballgazette said...

Wang was pretty good.
Maybe he is turning the corner