Under Control

Yesterday I was 7 years old again. I was tucked away in a bed at my grandparents' house in Ohio, fidgeting. The next morning was December 25th and I was too excited to sleep.

That's the only way to describe the feeling I had last night as I prepared for bed, or the way I feel right now as I prepare to leave work early and head for Shea Stadium.

It's easy to feel consumed with negative vibes right now. The news is official: El Duque is off the roster for the NLDS, and is questionable (i.e. doubtful) for the NLCS.

Our starting pitchers for this series will look something like this:

Game 1: John Maine
Game 2: Tom Glavine
Game 3: Steve Trachsel
Game 4: Oliver Perez/Maine
Game 5: Maine/Glavine

Not quite how you would have drawn it up, huh?

It's truly amazing that this could have happened to the team that clinched the division first. Remember when we used to think that clinching first would let us set up our rotation? That was a cute thought.

But whatever, it is what it is. Nobody's going to feel sorry for us. This series still counts.

And in spite of all our doomsday fears, I still feel as excited as a kid the day before Christmas, and maybe even as optimistic as well.

If our offense comes out today and hits like it's capable of hitting, everybody's going to forget this whole Pedro/El Duque debacle real fast.

If our starting pitchers can keep the opposition to 4 runs or fewer, we've got a fighting chance. Our team has overcome average pitching since the second month of the season (when Pedro and Glavine went downhill).

How'd we do it? With two tools that haven't been impacted by the recent slate of calf injuries: our offense and our bullpen.

Starting pitchers: Give us 6 decent innings.

Hitters: Score runs like you're capable of doing, like you did all year before September, like you did in the last series you played.

Bullpen: Hold leads like you've done all season.

It's a simple recipe for success. It's worked all season. Replicate it over the next 3 weeks and everything is under control.

Am I drinking the Kool-Aid? Possibly. But fuck it, dreams of a championship still dance in my head like so many sugar-plum fairies.

Now let's go watch some playoff baseball.

- A.F.O.M.G.