Mets Take Fans On Amazin’ Rollercoaster Ride

Unbelievable game today between the Mets and Phillies. Even if you’re a Met fan you had to enjoy that one.

I gotta be honest, before the Pagan HRs, the 9th inning errors and the triple play to end all triple plays, I was planning a blog calling Ollie Perez’s disastrous outing the worst moment of the Mets season.

I was going to argue that in this monumentally disappointing season, Oliver Perez getting pulled mid-at bat versus Pedro Martinez (3-0 count, by the way) was the ultimate embarrassment.

And then the Mets did something they rarely have done all season….they showed some fight. Some life. They looked like a team doing more than just playing out the string.

Sitting here in the PIX sports office, I felt the tide turn on Angel Pagan’s inside-the-park home run. Even watching through the TV I got the sense that, despite the 6-run punch to the groin the Phillies dealt to the Mets (and their fans), that the game turned on that one play.

And what a play it was. Seriously, what was Shane Victorino thinking? Just because the ball rolls under the wall doesn’t mean it’s a dead ball.

You have to make some effort to grab it. Maybe if he tried to yank it and it didn’t budge the umpire would have ruled a dead ball. But to just stand there and look at it…not a smart move.

The smart move, though, was Pagan not stopping when Victorino threw his hands up. Paying attention, kiddies? Play to the whistle (I know that's football, but still, you get the idea).

But that was just the start of a wild afternoon.

Lost in all of it was Pedro Martinez making his return to Flushing. Pedro went from being the top story in the game to an afterthought.

Seriously, we ran NINE HILITES in our Mets package in tonight’s sportscast (a non-Super Bowl record since I’ve been here) and telling Pedro’s story took about five seconds.

Which brings me to the ninth. It’s an inning that’ll be talked about for a long time at Citi Field.

If you were lucky enough to be there…..AGAIN, even if you’re a Mets fan you have to feel privileged to have seen that in person…..you were treated to some history.

Eric Bruntlett, faced with being the goat who made TWO terrible plays that would cost the Phils a win, turned out to be the hero.

No doubt he was watching when Pagan flew around the bases on his inside-the-parker, because Bruntlett showed that same stick-to-it-tivness.

Or maybe he was just incredibly lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

Or maybe this Mets team is so cursed that it was just a matter of time that the 2009 season would lay claim to another unforgettably miserable Mets moment.

I think a little from column A and a little from column B.

Jeff Francoeur hit it on the screws. The Mets were running on the play. Bruntlett was covering the bag.

The evolution of an unassisted triple play.

The Mets took their fans on a rollercoaster ride at Citi Field this afternoon.

And even if it ripped your heart out, I’m sure 10 years from now - if you were at Citi - you’ll be proud to tell people you were there.

Matt Estreich for The Huddle