The One We Can't Lose
The team stood around its diminutive coach. They were embarking on the biggest game of the biggest season of their lives. While the team had a ton of names, superstars even, there was one that had all the charisma. He was the one that the fans loved, the one who stole our hearts and was a particular hit with the women.
He was the big ticket, the showstopper, the guy that got you to tune in everyday, even though the product never really ever changed. You knew what you were getting with this guy, and yet you were always excited.
His name...
Zack Morris.
Morris carried the 1993 Bayside Boys Varsity basketball team on his shoulders. While many scouts never even saw him shoot a jump shot, Chad Ford, in his early days of scouting had this to say about Morris.
"Upside, Freak, Monster. I saw this kid playing in his back yard and I can tell you he is going to be a top ten player of all time. And by the way, you will never find sweeter frosted tips than this guy's."
Little did Chad know that Darko would come along, but that wasn't his fault.
Anyway, going into the big game against Valley, Bayside needed Morris to step up. They needed his heart, soul and body.
He never saw the floor.
Thanks to Bozo Belding, Zack suffered a freak leg injury that kept him out of the game while simultaneously bringing him into the hearts of many a Bayside-area nurse, who were all ridiculously attractive.
Still, Bayside didn't have a chance and of course, they lost the game.
Why Morris, you ask?
First off, Saved by the Bell sometimes gets lost in the mix on this site and I felt it was owed its neccesary recognition, a la Nick the Voice.
But second, we at Shea have our own Zack Morris. And like Zack before the basketball game, our Zack has us very nervous.
It was announced yesterday that Pedro Martinez, the glue of this team, the one player without whom we have no chance at the playoffs, will not be ready for his Opening Day start. Yesterday's announcement confirms that Petey's injured toe will keep him out a couple more days than originally hoped, with the thinking being that he'll hopefully start sometime later in the first week of the season.
Every fear that I had when we signed the aging Martinez has hit me at the very start of year two. What scares me most is how little is discussed of Pedro. Clearly any bad news would be terrible pr for the Mets, devastating ticket sales, fan morale and even player morale.
But what is worse is the lack of good news. We haven't heard many positives about Pedro this spring which scares me. Without him the Mets are a .500 team. With him, they could win 90-95 if everything else gels.
But old Petey is the glue. Could you imagine a Bayside without Zack Morris? At least they would have Slater. Look, I love Tommy the Spy as much as the next guy, but he's no Slater and we all know it.
Give me a Mets pitching staff without Pedro and I give you the cast of Strictly Ballroom, Yankee2000's No. 1 worst movie of all time. The staff would be dreadful. Already every pitcher on the staff is pitching a rotation spot up.
Glavine is no more than a 3rd starter now. Trachsel, if healthy is a 4, Heilman is a 5 and Zambrano is a 9.
Pedro is our guy. This article is meant to make you nervous. There is a little too much optimism floating around this site, we call it "The Happy Will Influence."
Let's all knock on some serious wood for this one.
Or better yet, let's knock on something else. I ask that we all take a hammer to one of our toes today. Clearly this will hurt, but hopefully this will bring Pedro the feeling of unity and support that he needs in order to receive a quick and full recovery.
VCD,
SM
He was the big ticket, the showstopper, the guy that got you to tune in everyday, even though the product never really ever changed. You knew what you were getting with this guy, and yet you were always excited.
His name...
Zack Morris.
Morris carried the 1993 Bayside Boys Varsity basketball team on his shoulders. While many scouts never even saw him shoot a jump shot, Chad Ford, in his early days of scouting had this to say about Morris.
"Upside, Freak, Monster. I saw this kid playing in his back yard and I can tell you he is going to be a top ten player of all time. And by the way, you will never find sweeter frosted tips than this guy's."
Little did Chad know that Darko would come along, but that wasn't his fault.
Anyway, going into the big game against Valley, Bayside needed Morris to step up. They needed his heart, soul and body.
He never saw the floor.
Thanks to Bozo Belding, Zack suffered a freak leg injury that kept him out of the game while simultaneously bringing him into the hearts of many a Bayside-area nurse, who were all ridiculously attractive.
Still, Bayside didn't have a chance and of course, they lost the game.
Why Morris, you ask?
First off, Saved by the Bell sometimes gets lost in the mix on this site and I felt it was owed its neccesary recognition, a la Nick the Voice.
But second, we at Shea have our own Zack Morris. And like Zack before the basketball game, our Zack has us very nervous.
It was announced yesterday that Pedro Martinez, the glue of this team, the one player without whom we have no chance at the playoffs, will not be ready for his Opening Day start. Yesterday's announcement confirms that Petey's injured toe will keep him out a couple more days than originally hoped, with the thinking being that he'll hopefully start sometime later in the first week of the season.
Every fear that I had when we signed the aging Martinez has hit me at the very start of year two. What scares me most is how little is discussed of Pedro. Clearly any bad news would be terrible pr for the Mets, devastating ticket sales, fan morale and even player morale.
But what is worse is the lack of good news. We haven't heard many positives about Pedro this spring which scares me. Without him the Mets are a .500 team. With him, they could win 90-95 if everything else gels.
But old Petey is the glue. Could you imagine a Bayside without Zack Morris? At least they would have Slater. Look, I love Tommy the Spy as much as the next guy, but he's no Slater and we all know it.
Give me a Mets pitching staff without Pedro and I give you the cast of Strictly Ballroom, Yankee2000's No. 1 worst movie of all time. The staff would be dreadful. Already every pitcher on the staff is pitching a rotation spot up.
Glavine is no more than a 3rd starter now. Trachsel, if healthy is a 4, Heilman is a 5 and Zambrano is a 9.
Pedro is our guy. This article is meant to make you nervous. There is a little too much optimism floating around this site, we call it "The Happy Will Influence."
Let's all knock on some serious wood for this one.
Or better yet, let's knock on something else. I ask that we all take a hammer to one of our toes today. Clearly this will hurt, but hopefully this will bring Pedro the feeling of unity and support that he needs in order to receive a quick and full recovery.
VCD,
SM
posted by Sippy Momo at 1:25 AM
4 Comments:
I am insulted that you have not commented on your boy, Theo's move to trade Bronson Arroyo for Wily Mo. This trade is teeming with issues that you should be considering, as an anti-yankee/pro-team loyalty guy. Johnny Damon is NARD (not a roll dogg) of the year, but even me, as big a Sox fan as they come, will admit that Johnny's "I told ya so" might have some some shreds of legitimacy after this kind of sheistiness.
-big poops
I've said it before when no one else would, http://thebackpagesports.com/bp/sport_site/article_view.cfm?aid=1460, and I'll say it again now: doubt Pedro at your own peril.
There was nary a Mets fan who thought the signing last year was a good deal (even though all the hysteric revisionist history Mets fans will claim that they were behind the move), but Pedro changed the identiy of the Mets more so than everyone's favorite golden boy, D-Wright, ever will and he made this team legit. If Pedro pitches on day 3 instead of day 1, who gives a shit?
Pedro is, and until the day he retires, always will be the man. If the Happy Will influence means we should enjoy the greastest artiste we will ever see on the mound (and I couldn't care less if Maddux and Clemens retire with better stats, the two best pitchers of all-time in my mind are Sandy Koufax and Pedro Martinez), then I'm proud to inject a little Happy Will influence on Y2k.
Vote for Pedro (even if Napoleon Dynamite is a wildly overrated movie),
Happy Will
PS Hey Sip--where's the NCAA tourney coverage? My Shockers are going to keep dancing all the way to Indy!
Granted there was a goodly amount of people who looked at Pedro's 3.90 ERA in 2004 and were convinced his best days were behind him, but I really disagree that it's hysteric revisionism when the rest of us claim to have liked the signing. I still have my doubts as to whether Pedro will be effective come Year 4, but that doesn't change the fact that it was exactly the kind of splash that a go-nowhere franchise needed to make. I think the majority of Mets fans felt this way about the move.
Agreed though that it doesn't matter whether Pedro pitches Day 1, Day 3 or Day 5.
If you liked the Pedro signing, god bless you, but I can promise you that the vast majority of Mets fans thought this was a horrible move when it was made. Just check out Metsgeek or the Mike and the Mad Dog archives for evidence.
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