"Schwing!"
New York Mets starting pitcher Pat Misch set a career high for strikeouts in a game recording 10 in 8 innings. First baseman Ike Davis gave Misch and the Mets a 1-0 lead in the 4th inning with one Schwing! of the bat when he launched the 19th home run of his rookie season off of Washington Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann. But Mike Morse took a good schwing himself and tied the game with a solo homer of his own, his 14th, in the 7th inning. After Misch left in the 8th it became a battle of the bullpens and it stayed that way until one final schwing by Josh Thole who hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 10th, his 3rd of the season, to end it. Hisanori Takahashi (10-6) picked up the win in relief. Final score Mets 2, Nationals 1.
The shirt already has a caption
44 comments
GravediggerHebner
10/1/2010-10:02pm at 10:02 pm (UTC -4)
Oh well for some reason this didn’t tweet out automatically. Helluva win though.
Mr North Jersey
10/1/2010-10:04pm at 10:04 pm (UTC -4)
Last season Figueroa pitched a complete game 4-0 shutout vs Astros to end season I believe.
I wonder what this year’s final game end like?
GravediggerHebner
10/1/2010-10:05pm at 10:05 pm (UTC -4)
Yes and then I spent most of the winter heatedly debating whether Figueroa’s performance then meant anything or not so I think I’ll skip this winter’s debate about Misch.
Mr North Jersey
10/1/2010-10:09pm at 10:09 pm (UTC -4)
LoL, and miss all the fun?
GravediggerHebner
10/1/2010-10:16pm at 10:16 pm (UTC -4)
I have been wrong about a lot and will continue to be wrong about a lot but one thing I got right was suggesting if the choice was between Jason Marquis or Nelson Figueroa that the team should chose Figueroa and use the money saved to improve elsewhere.
Figgy: 4-3, 3.54, 1.328 WHIP, 2.17 K/BB, $416 thousand
Marquis: 2-9, 6.60, 1.705 WHIP, 1.29 K/BB $7.5 million
Mr North Jersey
10/1/2010-10:20pm at 10:20 pm (UTC -4)
LoL, yeah but what if Marquis was a Met he may have won a Cy Young.
GravediggerHebner
10/1/2010-10:24pm at 10:24 pm (UTC -4)
You and your butterfly effect. If I hadn’t taken Debbie Martin to the prom Mike Dukakis would have been president.
Mr North Jersey
10/1/2010-10:25pm at 10:25 pm (UTC -4)
hahahahahhahaha
Mr North Jersey
10/1/2010-10:26pm at 10:26 pm (UTC -4)
I see u saw my earlier tweet to DarkNova LOL
Mr North Jersey
10/1/2010-10:30pm at 10:30 pm (UTC -4)
LoL, Hey Grave I googled Debbie Martin and got 691,000 results. You’ll have 2 be more specific.
metsfan4decades
10/1/2010-10:07pm at 10:07 pm (UTC -4)
And I believe the second to last game, Misch pitched a complete game shutout as well. Gave up something like 7-8 hits though.
stickguy
10/1/2010-11:11pm at 11:11 pm (UTC -4)
I was at that game. really breezed along. As best as I could tell, all the astros really had something they wanted to get to after the game.
kingman 26
10/1/2010-11:14pm at 11:14 pm (UTC -4)
Are you thinking of the very last game, when Figgy pitched a shutout and the Astros could not wait to leave? I was at the next to last game and there was like a 2-hour rain delay.
stickguy
10/1/2010-11:16pm at 11:16 pm (UTC -4)
Hmm, now i am confused. Maybe I was at the figgy game? I dont remember a rain delay.
hell, I was at some game. And someone unexpected (I think) pitched a shutout. Or close to it.
kingman 26
10/1/2010-11:19pm at 11:19 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah, Figgy threw a shutout the last day of the year on Sunday, and on Saturday, the next to last day, Misch pitched 5 great innings and then there was a 2+ hour rain delay before they finished.
I was at Saturday and maybe you were at Sunday.
metsfan4decades
10/1/2010-10:06pm at 10:06 pm (UTC -4)
Well, that was fun. Good for Thole.
Too bad Misch didn’t get the win – he certainly deserved it.
Reading around the blogs, I don’t understand the mindset of some who are angry that the Mets are celebrating a walk off win in a meaningless game. To me, that’s preferable than the mindset of sore losers thinking ‘who cares? our season was over in July’.
GravediggerHebner
10/1/2010-10:10pm at 10:10 pm (UTC -4)
It’s still a win and as you note a walk-off win, something the 2010 Mets have very few of. They play 162 games and they all count in the standings I see no reason why a team can’t be happy about winning any one of those 162 in exciting fashion. The anger about this is something I just can’t understand at all. Luckily I haven’t encountered it because I really wouldn’t know how to deal with it.
metsfan4decades
10/1/2010-10:13pm at 10:13 pm (UTC -4)
Well, I’m glad to see I wasn’t the sole Met fan that feels this way.
To me, it’s sour grapes. Fans are pissed about the season and it annoys the hell out of them for some reason or other to see them celebrate a win. ‘Silly, foolish, bad taste’ are all words I’ve seen bandied about.
Sigh….
Mr North Jersey
10/1/2010-10:16pm at 10:16 pm (UTC -4)
I said this once before but I have never seen a team win in walk off fashion and not celebrate. Why people r mad is beyond me.
kingman 26
10/1/2010-10:42pm at 10:42 pm (UTC -4)
Well, for me, I am certainly not angry and wins are wins.
But I can understand the negative type fan being angry for sure.
The team seemed to sleepwalk through July and August, and they are really psyched about a walk-off win against the Nats on October 1?
I love every Met win, but I can understand folks wondering where the walk-off wins and the enthusiasm were on the west coast trip after the break and for the next two months after that.
I think this might explain some of it.
Mr North Jersey
10/1/2010-11:02pm at 11:02 pm (UTC -4)
I guess to some extent I can see the argument but let me ask you this then.
If say Thole did hit a walk off HR in extra innings at home and the Mets just casually walked off to do their typical handshakes after a routine win that we see all teams do. Wouldn’t that be even more awkward then the customary wait for him at home and pat him on the head that all teams do?
kingman 26
10/1/2010-11:07pm at 11:07 pm (UTC -4)
Excellent question…I am not saying this is how I think; I am just trying to understand why some folks might feel this way.
The Mets, as your scenario points out, are in a no-win situation. If they celebrate some will complain, and if they didn’t celebrate, others would say that this shows that they don’t care.
I am just saying that I think that many people would have maybe liked to see more walk-off celebrations when the games mattered.
After all, it’s a walk-off against a really horrible team long after they were eliminated.
Again, not MY thoughts really, but I can understand people asking where the clutch hits and emotion were in July and August, that’s all.
stickguy
10/1/2010-11:30pm at 11:30 pm (UTC -4)
I don’t think they cared any less in July or August. The talent just wasn’t there, or wasn’t working, at the time. Any team that isn’t hitting looks flat, disinterested, whatever.
were the Phillies flat, disinterested, sleepwalking, etc. back in May/June when they weren’t winning or hitting (such as that series in NY where they did not even score?)
I have no idea exactly what caused the tailspin. Certainly injury (Reyes getting hurt in PR, right when he was red hot), poorly timed slumps (wright also blistering in June, cold in July, Ike hitting the rookie adjustment wall).
Lot’s of factors, but not caring or wanting to win, when they were trying to stay in or close to 1st? I doubt it.
kingman 26
10/1/2010-11:39pm at 11:39 pm (UTC -4)
Makes some sense, but I think the team just is not all that talented and there just has to be some validity to all the talk (Cora, Sheffield, Strawberry, Keith, Darling, Ojeda) about lack of motivation and leadership. I also think Reyes is not close to the player he was 2-4 years ago and neither is Wright.
Yes, when a team is playing poorly, they look disinterested.
But still, and I don’t want to re-start old arguments, but during these times, they were playing cards before games when HoJo wanted them to be watching tape. I sincerely think there’s something there too.
stickguy
10/2/2010-12:11am at 12:11 am (UTC -4)
I know your opinion on Reyes, but i think his only problem the last 2 years is not being able to stay fully healthy long enough.
last year the dump hammy tendon (and typical met mis-diagnosis) prevented him from playing.
And this year, once he got back in the groove after the thyroid, he was on fire, playing like the old reyes.
then the muscle pull wiped him out, and IMO a big part of the defense issue was due to not being able to move all taped up.
Wright? some combo of mental approach (chicks did the long ball), the beaning, Hojo? but he ain’t the same player he used to be.
kingman 26
10/2/2010-12:23am at 12:23 am (UTC -4)
I certainly hope you are right on Reyes, but still, I fear giving him the contract he surely will demand.
Not a perfect analogy, but our two titles came with Harrelson and Santana at SS. I could see Tejada being very Harrelson-esque at SS if he can eventually draw more walks.
Wright? So hard to tell—is it HoJo, Citi Field, not hitting the other way anymore, the pressure of the horrors and injuries of the last two years, the beaning, etc.?
With a crop of youth and if Bay can rebound and protect Wright, maybe Wright can return to 2005–2008 numbers.
Reyes’ whole game has just regressed so much—everywhere—fielding, speed, OBP—his fielding just sucks compared to the past, and he seems again to be swinging for the fences. I used to love him, but now….I just fear that 5 year 80 million deal or whatever it would be.
metsfan4decades
10/1/2010-11:57pm at 11:57 pm (UTC -4)
But look at the starting lineup today vs the opening day starting lineup. Not one of the starting 8 – heck 9 including Misch, was on the field that day. Half of them weren’t on the team that day.
Completely different team, where half these guys weren’t around or just barely up, when they were tanking mid summer. So I have to give them some credit that, that particular suckitude didn’t wear off…
metsfan4decades
10/2/2010-12:00am at 12:00 am (UTC -4)
And by suckitude, I mean that defeatist attitude that some claimed the team had adopted coming out of the ASB.
kingman 26
10/2/2010-12:05am at 12:05 am (UTC -4)
I am with you 100% and will even raise you—I don’t even want Reyes anymore.
I want a whole new team.
Wright and Johan can stay; Bay has to.
Pelf, Niese, Dickey, Gee, Parnell, Thole, Ike, Murphy, Tejada, Pagan, and maybe FMart or even Duda if he is ready.
Let’s see how this homegrown bunch can do for a year or two. Enough failure.
I loved the walkoff win tonight, and Tejada’s the other day even more. I hope we see many, many more in 2011.
stickguy
10/2/2010-12:16am at 12:16 am (UTC -4)
but will you love reyes if he makes it through ST in great shape, and then has a career year?
better at least make peace for now, since you certainly are going to be watching him in 2011, and quite likely beyond that.
but I do think that between 2 off years, Boras being Boras, and a new FO/GM, it is quite possible he ends up playing out the year.
And if that happens, odds are he gets a crazy offer from someone and moves on. But, at least the mets would get picks!
kingman 26
10/2/2010-12:26am at 12:26 am (UTC -4)
Well, yeah, I mean if Reyes has 2006-2008 numbers next year, boy it will be a tough spot.
But I think you may be wrong on Boras—I do not think he is Jose’s agent, unless he switched very recently.
Certainly he was not when Jose signed his last extension.
Still though Stick, the injuries just cannot explain away the lack of focus and instincts.
I don’t think Howard is a great first baseman or that the Phils are immortal, but why was Jose smiling ear-to-ear with Howard the day after Utley’s slide and getting picked off? Don’t plays like that concern you?
Mr North Jersey
10/1/2010-10:13pm at 10:13 pm (UTC -4)
check it out 4D
Generated 10/1/2010.
metsfan4decades
10/1/2010-10:17pm at 10:17 pm (UTC -4)
Well, guess my memory is faulty. I could have sworn that was a complete game. Looks like the only thing I got right was the amount of hits. LOL.
Thanks for the boxscore.
Mr North Jersey
10/1/2010-10:18pm at 10:18 pm (UTC -4)
Hell I give you props for remembering it was Misch.
kingman 26
10/1/2010-10:40pm at 10:40 pm (UTC -4)
I was at that game; as I remember, there was a ridiculously long rain delay; maybe two hours. I think that is why Misch only went five. I am pretty sure he just did not come back after the eternal rain delay.
metsfan4decades
10/2/2010-12:03am at 12:03 am (UTC -4)
That rain delay….that must be it. I didn’t remember the delay – I just remembered Misch pitching well, not getting knocked out of the box and finishing what he started. So somehow that memory translated in my mind to a complete game….
kingman 26
10/2/2010-12:08am at 12:08 am (UTC -4)
It was crazy—was our first trip to Citi, walked around the whole park, had snacks, checked out the Rotunda, and finally left the game after an hour-plus of pouring rain, and were shocked when we got home and they started to play like two hours later!
asod75
10/2/2010-11:53pm at 11:53 pm (UTC -4)
Misch threw an eight-hit complete game shutout the start before in Miami. My wife and I were in South Beach for the weekend and originally planned on going to that game, but decided against it since the team was terrible and wasn’t worthy of shelling out money to see them. Watched the last few innings in our hotel room before going out for dinner.
stickguy
10/1/2010-11:09pm at 11:09 pm (UTC -4)
nice to see the young guys getting it done. And 2nd say in a row the catcher with “no power” hit a ball a long way.
so, tonight the team cared, had heart, and did not have their bags packed and reservations made. good.
sadly, I almost hope they lose one of the next 2. Just so they don’t finsih 80-82, like that idiot writer kept tweeting.
kingman 26
10/1/2010-11:21pm at 11:21 pm (UTC -4)
To me, seeing Thole and Tejada get key hits is just beautiful.
Maybe the future started this last week.
Let it be 1981 or 1982 next year. Play every kid.
Then we can pick up Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter in 2 years or so and dominate the league for a while.
stickguy
10/1/2010-11:25pm at 11:25 pm (UTC -4)
and do copious amounts of blow along the way?
or you don’t want to emulate the ’86 club quite so closely?
kingman 26
10/1/2010-11:40pm at 11:40 pm (UTC -4)
No! I don’t want to emulate that!
However, it seems, at first glance, that Ike, Thole, Tejada, Mejia, Niese, Gee, etc. are really all pretty level-headed kids, don’t you think?
I am just saying I love the idea of giving a group of Met farmhands a few years to grow together.
stickguy
10/2/2010-12:12am at 12:12 am (UTC -4)
I know what you meant. I just had to yank your chain a little.
and yes, they all seem to be upstanding young men.
njstuckintx
10/2/2010-9:40am at 9:40 am (UTC -4)
Not to be a Debbie Downer, but only offense being generated by long-balls is not the normal nor recommended way to win at Citi. Will take the win any which way, though.