Game 7: Delirium or Denouement

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The following is an email I just received from my buddy Chris.  He's a Mets fan.  I'm posting it here, with his permission, because I thought some of you would enjoy it.  (I'm pulling for the Mets)

October 16th, 2003

October 20th, 2004

 

Those two dates represent that last two times that a game 7 of an LCS was played in the city, state, and
county of New York. The
first was a great victory for the New York Yankees who reveled late
into the night thanks to the crack of Aaron Boone's bat and the
stubbornness of one slight Dominican hurler (not to mention the
ineffectualness of one hill-billy manager).
The second was the death knell of an era and the last
gasp of a suffocating curse—invincibility had been shattered and a
region learned who their daddy was, and his name was Big Papi.

 

October 27th, 1986

October 19th, 2006

 

The New York Mets have played only one previous Game 7 at Shea Stadium. It's
destined to be a footnote to the irrepressible memory of Game 6, of
Mookie, of Buckner, of the Kid not wanting to make the final out in the
World Series.

 

In 1986 the Metropolitans came back from Boston trailing 2 games to 3 in the best of 7 series. The Red Sox had their ace, a young Roger Clemens (about to win the AL Cy Young Award), on the mound for Game 6. It seemed all set for them on that night. The champagne was on ice and every bar from Brookline to Quincy was packed and ready to celebrate.

 

Mookie slaps the ball down the first base line, it gets by Buckner and the Mets forced a Game 7.

 

The Mets never made it to Game 7 in 1999. With
one out in the last of the eleventh inning of Game 6, Kenny Rogers
walked Andruw Jones with the bases loaded and the Braves won the game
and sent us home.
Those 1999 Mets looked like a team of destiny, from
Leiter's two-hit shutout against the Reds to secure the Wild Card,
Robin Ventura's walk-off grand slam single, and Todd Pratt's late
inning heroics off the bench.
However, the Gambler let us down.  It
would seem only fitting that in the Baseball Gods (who I can only
imagine to be Peter Gammons, Vin Scully, Hank Greenberg, and the Head
of Ted Williams) allowed Kenny Rogers to rewrite his life story that
they would lavish the same favor upon the team he so recently derailed.
It would only seem fair. Right? 

 

So,
here we are twenty years after the last Game 7 at Shea and Mookie's son
plays for the Cardinals (it hurt to see Mookie seemingly half-asleep in
the stands in St. Louis wearing a garish, red cosby-sweater). In 2006 the Metropolitans came back from St. Louis trailing 2 games to 3 in the best of 7 series.
The Cardinals had their ace, a young Chris Carpenter (who had won the
NL Cy Young Award the previous year), on the mound for Game 6. It seemed all set for them on that night. The champagne was on ice and every bar from one side of that Arch to the other was packed and ready to celebrate.

 

The rookie from Virginia named Maine out-pitches the ace and the Mets forced a Game 7. 

 

October 27th, 1986

October 19th, 2006

 

Twenty years down the road how will tonight be remembered?
Delirium or denouement? Will I drink champagne on the seven train? Or will I be crying on the Grand Central Parkway? Will
I make plans to drive to Detroit this weekend or will I be fielding
taunting phone calls from my friends who support other teams.

 

The answers to these questions will largely be decided by Oliver Perez. Yes,
the fate of the team that steam-rolled through the National League in
2006 rests largely on the left arm of the person who holds the
distinction of having the worst regular season ERA (6.85) of any
pitcher to start a playoff game in the history of baseball.

 

Reporter
: Willy, who will be your starter for Game 7? And why?

 

Willy
: Oliver Perez will start, because I like him.

 

Is there any reason for the faithful to believe Willy? Well, yes. Yes, there is. In
2004 Perez ranked fourth in strikeouts and led all major league
pitchers with a strikeout/per 9.0 innings ratio of 11.0 (239 K's in
196.0ip). He held opposing hitters to a .202 batting
average—the second-best mark in the league behind Arizona's Randy
Johnson (.197)—and just a .187 average in 16 home starts. His 2.21
ERA at home was the best among all National League pitchers.

 

Perez shut out the Braves a few weeks ago and has a more strikeouts than he has innings pitched over his young career.
A shutout is a likely as a Trax-out (see Game 3). Randolph
and Rick Peterson know this and I would imagine that Darren "the other"
Oliver is ready to enter this game before Reyes takes a swing if needs
be.
All hands in the bullpen are on deck. It feels like Glavine really wants into this game too. He doesn't want his unraveling in Game 5 to be the last time he pitches in 2006.
In any case, there are too many good arms out there for this loss to get hung on the pitchers. It comes down to the bats and the gloves, to fast moving cleats and being clutch.

 

Will Shawn Green play a fly-out into a triple? Can David Wright hit a bases clearing double? Will he do it going the opposite way? Will the Carloses dominate like they have shown themselves capable?
 

 

Or
will this game come down to the Ghost of Blown Saves Past versus the
Ghost of Blown Saves Present as Braden and Billy duke it out in the
late innings?
If we miss out on the World Series because Wagner hearts his slider so much then he will be no better than Armando Benitez. In fact, he may be worse.
Benitez, at least, stuck with his fast-ball even when it was arrow-straight and getting pounded into gaps, left and right. Meanwhile,
Wagner is throwing off-speed stuff to an injured Scott Rolen who hasn't
hit a high fastball since Duaner Sanchez was still on that scoreless
innings streak.

 

No matter what happens tonight, these Mets are great. They are young, experienced, exciting and proud.
They are New York's team. And New Jersey's too.

 

I'll be there in the mezzanine, screaming until I can't scream anymore.

 

Let's go Mets!

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