Funny, I also left him my stuff. Guess who will be the prime suspect in our deaths.

Save me a spot, Jace. I'll bring the booze again.

And wait for me. I'm all the way in Boston, but I'll make it.

By the way....

FUCK THE BRAVES!!!! I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN! TURNER FUCKING FIELD'S LOST NONE OF ITS POTENCY. IT'S STILL WHERE THE MET GO TO DIE! IT ALWAYS WILL BE. NO MATTER HOW MANY GAMES WE WIN THEY'LL ALWAYS GRIND US INTO THE GROUND HERE...DAMN THEM. I HATE THEM SO MUCH. OHHH,....PEDRO!!!! WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN US?

You didn't really think things had changed THAT much, did you? They let us have our fun, now things are back to normal.

Pedro has not forsaken us. :-(

Holy. Fucking. Jesus.

WHAT THE FUCK??!?!?!

Greg! Jace! Do something about this! Fix it! Now! Or I'll break my computer and never log on here again!

HEEEEEEEELLLLLPPP!!!!!!

It was just a matter of time. We had to make a Mets of things sooner or later. Remember? This is how it feels to be one of us.

Fuck. It ain't over til it's over. You will all be in my extremely fervent prayers tonight, my brothers.

Yes, I agree. FIX IT! Please....

this IS how it feels to be us! ugh, i had almost forgotten. see what happens when you take all things baseball for granted. my heart hurts!

to add to your pain, bruce springsteen just spotted in the crowd at the yankees game.

Et tu, Bruce... ET TU???

Help. Someone please help.

WHY? Why would you bring this to our attention? Arghhh....i guess it's okay because im gonna bang my head against the wall so hard that tonight will never have happened, so I can forget that betrayal as well.

You think that's bad? The Tube just showed the "Glory Days" video and Bruce is on the couch watching Ron Guidry strike out Lou Whitaker.

It's hard to decide which is worse, our pitching or our offense.

Jesus H..I just went thru my playoff ducats with my buddies..looked my World Series Game 4 tickets ($300 each) and said to no one in particular.."well, THIS money will be going towards NEXT year's season's"

I can only hope this is like the (dare I write it) Yankee stretch of 2000 where they lost like 15 of 18 and proceeded to lose the first 2 games to the A's, when Jeremy Giambi forgot to slide. And then they went and beat another NY team in the WS. Yeah, yeah that's it..we're gonna beat the Bronx Bums in the series.

OK, so in a mere 24 hours, we've given up 25 runs and scored 1.

Thank you Jason - I needed that laugh.

I'll go with the Trenton Makes Bridge - it's the closest one to my house.

My 10-year-old gets all of my Mets stuff, so Greg shouldn't get any ideas about knocking me off prematurely.

Jason & Laurie,

I appreciate the bequeathments, but you're just leaving a bigger mess of baseball stuff for Stephanie to sort through since I, too, live not far from water.

Should you recover the body, bury me in my Bicentennial cap. I paid like 40 bucks for that thing with shipping and I've only worn it out twice.

The Nearly Late Greg
Blogger & Fan
Of The Nearly Late Mets

I've had just about enough of this.

"Just getting it out of their system."
"Just getting it out of their system."
"Just getting it out of their system."
"Just getting it out of their system."
"Just getting it out of their system."
"Just getting it out of their system."
"Just getting it out of their system."
"Just getting it out of their system."
"Just getting it out of their system."
"Just getting it out of their system."
"Just getting it out of their system."
"Just getting it out of their system."
"Just getting it out of their system."
"Just getting it out of their system."

My "yippee, we're in the postseason!" purchases mock me.

TBF is wheeling and dealing, finding perfect trades for our 'extra' set of tickets, and i have to wonder if we'll get to use them.

I fell asleep thinking it was only a bad dream but have woken up this morning to the harsh reality of the back pages. Deep in that place that always knows the truth I am not totally shocked. It really feels like Pedro has not been here all summer,doesn't it? Certainly not in any dominant form. Could he be totally done?

I know that we won without him all season...but where has everone else gone?

Exactly. The about-to-be-concluded season indicates we can get by without Pedro, or with less Pedro. But what's happened to Beltran and Delgado and Valentin and the rest?

Oh....I forgot to add that I am sick to my stomach and really scared.

you know what, metlady? you're right. i've been to over 30 games this year. i've never seen pedro pitch. never. even nights i was supposed to see him, something happened. so to me he was never part of the season in this weird way.

i'd be more scared to see him pitch in the playoffs than for us to go into the playoffs without him.

Speak for yourself. I've attended 6 or 7 Pedro starts this season and virtually all of them have been awesome. How quickly we forget his early season dominance! April record? 5-0. May ERA? 2.08 (0-1 record not withstanding). Led the National League in strike-outs. Pitched a gem against the Yankees that Wagner unceremoniously threw into the East River (In his defense, he was aiming for the plate.)

What does he have to show for it? A mediocre record, his worst-ever ERA, serious physical health issues. So, what, we don't need Pedro? He hasn't brought legitimacy, swagger, confidence, excitement, guile, humor, and determination to this team? We win just fine without him. Except, now we don't win at all. (Only 11-15 in September, but it's looked worse on the field).

Pedro pitches his heart out and his body lets him down, Turner Field's shadowy depths swallow him whole and we turn our backs on him? Fuck that. You're right, Metsgrrl, that Pedro cannot pitch. But my fear is not for us--it's for him. Put him out there in a playoff situation, Pedro reaches back for something extra--he never pitches again. Maybe it's already too late...

El Duque, Glavine, Trachsel, Maine...with luck, that shouldn't be so bad, right. Ya gotta believe... but show me a sign, guys, I'm losing faith.

I'm really not that concerned about Pedro. If he can't go in Game 3, we pitch John Maine. To be brutally honest, that's not much of a dropoff this season. If one at all. I was stunned, but stats don't lie - according to the broadcast last night, we've done better in non-Pedro starts these past two years. Maybe we should just run the 2008 rotation out there against Houston (please God, not them): Pelfrey, Humber and Bannister. They've looked good this week.

What keeps me awake at night is the offense. DWright hasn't got three clutch hits in the second half, someone pinched Jose Valentin and when he awoke he remembered he's Jose Valentin, Carlos Delgado can not hit an inside pitch and continues the nigh-endless stretch of huge Met acquisitions that disappoint, our corner OFers make the 2000 OF look like Wilie Mickey and the Duke, and Beltran is still out of sorts.

Now is the time for Willie to inspire the boys. I think he has it in him.

That surprises me. What is our record in Pedro starts? I don't know the answer, but let's look at those unlying-stats. His ERA with the Mets, including his last 4 horrific starts, is 3.44. His record is 24-16. He's averaged 8.99 K/9. Remove those starts (20 ERs in 11.67 innings), his ERA is 3.02, his winning% .667, his WHIP .96. If the Mets can't win with that, there's something wrong with us.

That surprises me. What is our record in Pedro starts?

The Mets are 11-12 when Pedro starts, 82-53 when he doesn't.

I see. But that's only for this season. He's made 5 of those starts in poor health which has certainly contributed to failure to win those games. Kingman Fan was referring to both seasons, though, wasn't he? Surely our numbers are far better overall since Pedro's become a Met.

I'd also like to see a break down of bullpen ERA and runs per game in Pedro starts vs. every other starter. I have a feeling there's a stark contrast.

Hey, you asked the question, I answered it without commentary.
If you have other questions, do your own research about run support, bullpen ERA's, etc.

Hey, chill, man, I wasn't asking you directly. Wondering aloud (on virtual paper, that is) is what blogs are for. As you no doubt realized, those stats are a pain to actually assemble. All the same, thanks for filling me in on the record this year, though.

Sorry Jake.
Losing must be making me cranky.

Nope, they posted the two-year aggregate numbers, and I think we're at .500, or a game below, in Pedro's starts these past two years. I was amazed. Don't have time right now to look it up.

If Pedro Martinez never throws another inning for the New York Mets, he is one of the most important people in the history of this franchise and has earned himself a spot among the Hundred Greatest Mets of The First Fifty Years (check back in 2012 for the complete rankings).

Pedro turned this thing around on his slender back. There is no legitimate comparison of the Mets pre-Pedro and now. Some of that was reputation, much of that is personality but most of it is pitching, right up until the calf acted up. He was screwed out of how many wins in May? Six. I can't remember a pitcher pitching better longer with nothing to show for it in the way of a W. (And we've had any number of starters done in by bullpen and offense through the decades.)

Of course it's not May now. If he can pitch at all in the first round -- hopefully not the only round -- then it will be because he can contribute. It's more likely he'll be put on ice for Round Two should the other 24 members of the team will pick him up. Whenver he's given the ball, he will do something good with it when it really and truly counts.

My proof? He's Pedro. That's all the proof I need.