Saturday, August 23, 2008

Last Day at Shea

Tonight's victory against the Astros will most likely be the final game I go to at Shea Stadium. I have to be happy with the way it worked out: a Santana v. Oswalt matchup, the return of Ryan Church from the DL (which included a 2-minute standing ovation when it came time for his first at-bat, in which he hit an infield single), and a Mets victory. The last homerun I'll ever see in-person at Shea Stadium was hit by Brian Schneider off Oswalt immediately following Church's single. The last out was recorded by Luis Ayala (which capped off two perfect innings by the normally-nerve-racking Mets 'pen). And most importantly, the Mets sit in first place as I walked away from Shea Stadium for the last time.


Goodbye, Shea.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Two Good Notes for the Rays

Steve is incredibly still unavailable to write about the incredible season his Rays are having, so it once again falls on me to do so.

Today, the Rays won for the 71st time this season. This sets a new franchise record for wins in a season, and it is only August 10th. The Rays still may not make the playoffs; the BoSox are hanging around and the Yanks aren't dead yet. But this will be a season for the Rays fans like Steve to remember for a long time -- the first time this franchise has put together a competitive team for late in the season.

Another feel good story came out of the Rays' victory today. Rocco Baldelli made his first appearence in the Majors since being diagnosed with a rare muscle fatigue disorder. He picked up a hit in his second at-bat. Baldelli is unlikely to crack the regular starting lineup for this solid Rays team, but seeing him back in the boxscore after years of injury problems and this newly discovered disease is a pleasant sight that ranks close to the returns of Jon Lester and Doug Davis (from a baseball point of view, at least.... I don't mean to say that his fatigue disorder was as distressing as cancer).


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As for the other half of this blog's subject: the Mets -- well, they lost an ugly one today against the Marlins, and currently sit 2 games behind the Phillies and 1/2 game ahead of the Marlins.

Go Mets and Rays!