October Illness, third and final part

It's a gloomy, gloomy day in Metville. When left without words on a depressing and shocking situation in the City, I find it best to leave it to the brilliant headline writers of the NY Daily News to speak for me. The "Met Cemetary" headline of the NY Post was a bit too morbid for my taste.

So, what to say. It was a knuckle-whitening rollercoaster ride this week, what with the Mets come back in Game 6 to tie the series. And a tied Game 7 until the brutal ninth inning. Just too sad. But on the positive side, Endy Chavez most likely made the baseball history annals with this stunning catch in the sixth inning - some people are already calling it the best defensive play in MLB history. Dunno about that, but it's fun to relive it here on YouTube.

Thanks to Lynn (down from Beacon) and Maria (visiting from SF!) I had wonderful company and happy distraction from tearing my hair out during the game. After dinner, they were kind enough to humor me by going to a bar to watch the last 3 innings, where Lynn cheerfully yelled at the umpire's calls and Maria was attentive to my clapping at good moments (and ultimately, most sympathetic to my moaning at the bitter end.) Lynn even shouted at the bartender to turn the TV's off immediately upon the Mets' loss. "There are some people in here who are VERY UPSET BY THIS! TURN IT OFF NOW!" Thank you, Girls. Fox Force Five Forever.

This morning Andres gave me the ultimate compliment. He told me I was a true sports fan, because after having experienced the 86 Series, and a grand 06 season at Shea, now I truly feel the agony of defeat. And then he told me to cheer up because Spring Training is but 4 months away. What optimism! I also received a very sweet condolence message from Uncle Jose. Aw shucks, guys, keep it up and I'll be taking over the remote during baseball season 2007!

October Illness, part two

So the Mets came back on Sunday night to tie the series.....and now the Cards have pulled ahead. The Mets are one game away from elimination.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!! I can't take it!

Sascha read my post and sent me a long, commiseratory email. And since he is much more of a sports fan than I am (he actually ran out into the streets of Manhattan to party the night the Mets won the World Series in 1986, whereas I stayed home, jumping up and down in front of the TV) I am going to excerpt it here:

"I'm ill with met's fever too. see, it's a rough life being a dude who likes sports. the mets have let me down my whole life except 1 year. the jets and giants aren't much help. the knicks have never done it in my adult life. and all the while i've had to suffer the humiliation of yankee fans.

anyway, i'm sick with anxiety now. to make it worse, my stupid friend charlie is from st. louis and has been sending me taunting texts after every cardinal victory. i just respond, "you poor guy, there's nothing else to be proud about in st. louis is there?"

in the end, i can't handle the torture so i have to have peace with the mets not making it this year. the loss of pedro and el duque fcuk'd them up and they are a young team not used to playoff pressure. but they're going to be so damn exciting to watch for the next few years i can't wait, especially with me moving back east... we can go see them all the time."

That's the spirit, Sauce!! Thanks for the encouraging words. We'll definitely be going to Shea for many years to come. And enjoy the colorful chanting stylings of the Mets fans, who kept me laughing on Friday in the darkest moments of the game. It was late (8th inning, I think) it was cold, and we were in the upper regions of the stadium feeling sad and lonely. To make matters worse, some of us were hungry and feeling neglected. Because suddenly, could it be? Up here in the nosebleed section? Yes, it was a vendor starting his way up the stairs towards our section peddling hotdogs. The fans let out a spontaneous cheer, because there wasn't anything happening on the field to cheer about:

HOT-dog VEN-dor
clap clap clapclapclap

HOT-dog VEN-dor
clap clap clapclapclap

That's the spirit, Mets fans. Keep it alive.

October Illness

With the Mets in the playoffs for the first time in 6 years, I have been sick.

I have a new Mets hat which I've been wearing all the time (to replace the one Sascha stole from me about 10 years ago), I talk about the team going all the way, and in what is perhaps the most troubling - and most evident - sign of the disease, I have been reading the sports pages. That's right, a section I never, ever read. I startle people with information about the batting lineup and bullpen relievers; I pretend to know what I'm talking about. It's fun.

Yes friends, I have Mets Fever. It was last diagnosed in my system in October 1986. I missed school the day after the Mets won the World Series, and my father wrote me a note to bring to homeroom. It read something like this:

"Please excuse Rachel's absence yesterday. She was home with a case of Mets Fever."

20 years later, Dad brought us to Game 2 of the NLCS at Shea last night. I was hyper all day long, in eager anticipation of another Mets victory over the Cardinals. They were up 3-0, then 3-2, then before I knew it, the score was tied 4-4. And that's when I felt a queasy feeling in my stomach that I didn't quite identify at first. Was it the Nathan's hotdog, 87 peanuts and an entire package of crackerjacks roiling through my system? Was it the obnoxious and at times x-rated outbursts of the drunken fans behind me in the nosebleed section? I suddenly realized what was troubling me: I care about a team in the playoffs. It is HARD to have a team in the playoffs, people! I've watched the World Series every year without any stress or worry - except of course in 2000 - and now gosh darnit, I'm stressed. I'm not even sure if I can watch Game 3 tonight, I'm so upset that the Mets lost last night. Here's a picture of Dad and me in happier times (after Delgado hit one of his homeruns.) This was before the Cards tied it up and then took the lead. I knew I was severly afflicted when a young fan, seated in the row in front of us, who had impassively been watching the game turned around when the Cards moved up to 7-6 and said "this is really turning around." The little 8 year old punk is a Yankees fan, so he came to root against the Mets. I almost kicked him in the teeth, he was so smug. See? I'm ill.

To make matters worse, the A's just got swept in the ALCS tonight, and there is a very depressed fan moping about Sterling Place. Although I have to say, he's coping farely well. At least we won't have to face the spectre of an A's-Mets World Series. That would be trouble.

Stay tuned.