The Gods of Baseball

Yeah, I had hoped the Mets could get a few more good starts from Livan Hernandez but it wasn’t to be. Before that, I had hoped that Jonathan Niese might be a nice addition to the pitching staff. More recently, I’d hoped for all kinds of things from these Mets but it’s all starting to wear kind of thin.

The baseball gods have abandoned the Mets. Well, that’s not entirely true. Abandonment would imply some neutrality to their situation. What we have here is some active dislike. Surely, random chance would not account for the myriad of misfortunes surrounding this accursed team in 2009.

These latest injuries, Castillo twisting his ankle on a dugout step, Niese totally pulling a tendon from a bone, can’t really affect a Mets fan anymore. We’re out of it. We know we have no chance. So stop already, demons, or whoever you are, you must have accomplished your mission by now.

It’s not even just the players and fans who’ve suffered. The hellcats have managed to get the management too. In one week, Bernazard and Minaya suffered embarrassment that usually takes a few months or even years to accumulate.

For Mets fans, what had been a pleasant trip for several years, a fantasy cruise, has become a nightmare. To borrow from the movie Sahara, what had been the good ship Lollipop has become “a ghost ship, a death ship.”

I’ve been searching for silver linings all season. And, boy oh boy, have I had every opportunity! We’ve certainly had a good look at the minor league system. And we’ve seen some imaginative deals for players, some pretty good players at bargain basement prices, Sheffield for just 400K and Francoeur for very little, really!

There may be some problems that needed uncovering too. Beltran has intimated his injury was not treated right and there certainly have been a preponderance of hamstring injuries, Reyes (again), Niese, Sheffield and, well, what’s the use really of belaboring all this. I’m willing at this point to call everything “acts of God,” or, because I really don’t think God cares too much about major league baseball, “acts of the baseball gods.”

Maybe if I could take some solace in the fact that the Yankees are doing well, I’d feel better. They pounded the Red Sox this night, finally, after eight beatings, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they turned this whole thing around the other way. I mean, really, the Red Sox are all banged up too, and who knows whether the gods will favor them with their malicious intentions.

Jason Bay, who was killing the ball for much of the season and was arguably the best Red Sox player this year, was out, Dice K was out, Big Papi has become Big Poopie, and they had Youkilis playing left field. Oh, and did I mention their starting pitcher is 42 years old? Yeah, I know it’s John Smoltz but just saying….

Joba walked 7 batters in five innings and the Red Sox scored all of four runs. There’s more to this than meets the eye, even given Joba’s penchant for making great pitches in bad situations.

Yeah, they have their ace, Josh Beckett, going tomorrow but I just have this feeling that it won’t appreciably help their situation. The Yanks have Burnett going, which is to say definitely not chopped liver. Then they have Sabathia going, and then Pettitte and things aren’t looking that rosy for the Red Sox, y’know?

Everything’s right with the Bombers these days. Phil Hughes filled their gaping 8th inning hole and then there’s Mariano for the ninth. Even Sergio Mitre is looking good to me. A lot of things that could have gone badly for these damned Yankees is going right.

Wasn’t Matsui a question mark? Not anymore. How about Posada? He’s just fine, thank you. Damon? He’s having an incredible year. Cano is playing out of his mind, at the plate and especially in the field.

He’s been getting to every ball and it doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s to his left or to his right. He just makes it look more impressive when the ball is hit to his right side so he can make that incredible throw he’s developed back to Teixeira. They’ve been calling it a Jeter move but it’s really not. Jeter jumps high in the air, spins and throws, all of which takes some time. Cano just whips the ball over his left shoulder in one motion. It’s really unbelievable, especially for a guy who seemed to be loafing for much of 2008.

It’s looking a lot like a Yankees year. But it’ll take some convincing for me to believe these matters are being decided on the field and not in the heavens. And, yeah, I know, people make their own luck. Gimme a break, okay.

If people make their own luck, why do we have Murphy at first base, Cora at second, and Berroa at shortstop? And the unlikely combo of Tatis, Pagan and Francoeur manning the outfield? The only remaining regular is Wright at third, and I’m kind of afraid to even point that out.

This could’ve been, should’ve been, the Mets year. They had it all but relief pitching. Minaya finally picked up two of the best relievers out there in K-Rod and Sean Green and it should have been all over but the shoutin’.

No, this isn’t a case of people making their own luck. This is just too weird. Have you noticed that it rained all through June and July and it’s been about 10 degrees cooler? And there’s been hardly any sunspot activity? And, wonder of wonders, Bill Clinton got those two reporters out of North Korea? And, well, the President is Barack Obama?

Okay, maybe I’m overdoing it but I’ve just about had it. When the Yankees start having good luck too, on top of their incredible resources, the fates seem to be just piling on. Or is it those baseball gods?