Get Metsmerized

Yeah, yeah, it’s only three games... but the Mets look fan-fucking-tastic so far. Glavine and El Duque were excellent, but John Maine today was even better: 7 innings, one hit, no runs; he was only in any kind of trouble for about five minutes in the fifth. This is kind of a bittersweet series for Mets fans, because on the one hand, they swept their rivals and that’s great, but on the other… how the hell did they lose the NLCS to these guys? The mlb.com recap headline was "Cards Bats Holding Them Back." I mean, maybe so, but only with plenty of help from their pitching and defense.

I know Tony La Russa is supposed to be a genius and all, but I thought he made some questionable moves: he left reliever Russ Springer, now the proud owner of a 40.5 ERA, on the mound way too long; and he somehow concluded that Preston Wilson was in any way qualified to either bat second or play the outfield (one ball was lost in the lights, which can happen to anyone, but the error on Julio Franco’s fly ball to right was just gruesome).

By the way, Julio Franco is now the oldest player ever to reach second base thanks to a fielding error by Preston Wilson. Well, probably. I think I'm going to make that a weekly feature: "Julio Franco is now the oldest player ever to..."

Erratic flamethrower Ambiorix Burgos had a blissfully stress-free debut, entering with a 10-run lead, and looked great, but I still have a lot of reservations about him. Anyone who's compared to Armando Benitez this often has got to give you pause. Aaron Sele pitched well tonight too, striking out Albert "Tom Glavine wasn't that good" Pujols with a curveball.

Also: in the sixth inning tonight Keith Hernandez referred to a John Maine slider as a “slid-oobie.”