Live Game Story 9/7/2008

Live Game Story 9/7/2008
Mets-Phillies Game 2
6-3 Mets

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2008_09_07_phimlb_nynmlb_2&mode=wrap

After Hurricane Hannah wreaked havoc on Saturday, and Jamie Moyer wreaked havoc on the Mets bats on Sunday afternoon, things were looking rather bleak as my dad and I headed to Shea for the second game of the day-night doubleheader.

Thanks to a 3-0 win the night before, the Phillies were able to cut the Mets lead to a game in the NL East standings. Still, an air of postseason electricity enveloped the area, despite reports of the Shea faithful disappointing showing Friday, and Saturday. Perhaps Met fans are still reeling from the Great Collapse of 2007, and being behind early in both previous games, as well as the inclement weather would lead to a general sense of apprehension when it comes to getting too excited about prospects for Autumn baseball.

In any event, 54,980 still packed Shea on this night. A smattering of Philly fans were in attendance, perhaps persuaded by local broadcast and social network website campaigns to “invade” Shea the way their Citizens Bank Ballpark can be infested with Met fans during Met games down the Turnpike. It certainly was when I took a trip down to Philadelphia on Independence Day weekend this summer for a Met-Phillie tilt.

Being the first homestand of September, the fifth, and supposedly final edition (I have a sneaking suspicion there may be a special cover for the final regular season game at Shea, and Mets Magazine provides the NLDS program, should the Mets end up in the postseason) of the Mets Magazine was out, and being a collector I plucked down my five dollars and saw that Jose Reyes was gracing the cover. Reyes has now graced the cover at least once in each of his seasons at Shea, which goes back to his debut season of 2002, and this particular one, as the Mets have done since 2005, is the edition of Mets Magazine that would be split in both English and Spanish in every single story.

Before trudging to Loge Section 4, Row J, Seat 11 I wanted to enjoy a nice Sam Adams Summer Ale from the Mezzanine Level Sam Adams kiosk. Sadly I discovered that Summer Ale will no longer be served at Shea Stadium. See you in Citi Field I guess. They had changed the seasonal brew tap to Octoberfest, which is a good beer, but it did feel like a delicious reminder that summer was now over, and Fall, while not scientifically here until the 22nd, had now arrived.

While downing the beer, there was still time to do my usual walk around the stadium. Still not feeling the sense of impending doom for the ballpark, but certainly the knowledge that the times I’ll probably be back at Shea will be counted on one hand is a bit of a sobering thought.

After this game was over, the number of games remaining stands at 12. And to mark the occasion, the Mets trotted out retiring long-time scout Harry Minor, and long-time Met employee, and original Met, Al Jackson to pull the number 13 from the Lincoln-Mercury Countdown sign out in centerfield. Joan Hodges, the widow of the manager of the late 1969 World Champion Mets, Gil Hodges, had pulled the number in the afternoon game, appropriate since Gil’s number #14 is among the Mets retired numbers.

The game started off on the dreadful side, as Johan Santana, in what was one of the games the Mets signed him to win, gave up a one out hit and walk, which led to Ryan Howard singling in Chase Utley to give the Phillies the early lead for the third straight game. Philly fans in my area were in their glory as a sudden pall fell over the Met fans in the crowd.

But it would be no matter, for as soon as Santana got into trouble and handed the Phillies the lead, the inning ended, and the Mets were about to take their hacks at the Phillies ace and 12 game winner, Cole Hamels.

The fun started when Ryan Church reached on a one out single to left. Then David Wright reached first on a catcher interference play, which caused Phillie skipper Charlie Manuel to get tossed from the game, much to the delight of an awakening Shea throng.

Carlos Beltran then brought Church in on a single, then Carlos Delgado got his game started with a single that drove in both Wright and Beltran, and the Mets never looked back.

Delgado would blast two mammoth homers, the last of which had to be one of the longest in Shea’s history. Santana would also get back into a grove, giving up only three more hits and one run, Ryan Howard’s 40th homer of the season, the rest of his seven and a third innings of work.

Due to a cranky 65 year old that was driving me home, I had to leave the stadium during the top of the seventh, but I could still feel the electricity of the Shea atmosphere listening in the car driving back to Westchester, and watching Luis Ayala put the final touches of a 6-3 win (the Mets 80th of the season), putting the Mets ahead by two games in the NL East with 19 games left for both teams, and puts the Mets division clinching magic number at 18.

In all, not a bad night at the ballpark.