What a Weekend

It started Saturday afternoon with A-Rod. It continued Saturday evening with Barry. Then it came to a close last night with Tommy Glavine.

OK, that's a little premature. As I write this the Mets are up 5-1 with 2 outs in the top of the 7th. Glavine has just sacrificed Thugage over to second, and Joe Buck tells us that Glavine has thrown 99 pitches in the game.

I am, at this moment, desperately hoping that Willie sends Glavine out there for the bottom of the seventh. I want Glavine to get to walk off the field and soak up the cheer of the crowd as he stands on history's doorstep.

(Remember Mike Piazza's last game as a Met? Remember how Willie pulled him before his final at-bat? That was some kind of bullshit. I defend Willie up and down and I think he takes a lot of shit unnecessarily, but for whatever reason he got a free pass on that one. Odd.)

We just came back from commercial, Glavine is still in the game. I wonder if they'll pull him with two outs even if he's still rolling.

But back to the rest of the weekend.

Wait a second here -- they just took him out. Nice ovation from the crowd. Nice moment. I wonder how badly Glavine is hoping Scott Schoweneweis doesn't enter this game.

But back to the rest of the weekend.

Like many others out there I'm sure, after Bonds tied Hank "Clean" Aaron's career mark of 755 home runs, coming as it did so quickly on the heels of A-Rod's 500th HR, conversation quickly turned to whether or not we wanted A-Rod to break Bonds' HR record.

Needless to say, for a Mets fan the question arouses competing impulses. On the one hand, I'm not sure anybody outside of San Francisco is entirely satisfied with Bonds owning the HR record, what with the cream, the clear, the flaxseed oil, and what have you.

On the other hand, A-Rod is almost as unlikeable as Bonds is, if for entirely different reasons. A-Rod's not the prick that Bonds is, he's just basically an unredeemable herb. Yankee fans are happy for him of course, but underneath it all they're as aware of that as we are.

It's a far cry from the immortal Babe Ruth or the universally admired Hank Aaron, but it's what we've got. In talking about it last night, I offered, rather assertively, that I preferred A-Rod own the record.

Now that I commit that thought to the page, however, I find I own none of the moral certainty I assumed last night. I guess, ultimately, I want the record to belong to someone free of steroid allegations, but still, why did it have to be A-Rod?

Oh well. He probably won't be a Yankee after this season so that will make it somewhat more palatable.

The bullpen allowed a couple runs in. The score is now 5-3 in the 8th. It is by no means certain that Glavine will earn No. 300 tonight; apologies to all for jinxing it in case it doesn't happen.

But if he does lock it up tonight, I've got nothing but positive thoughts. This past January I wrote the following:

"Glavine's career was clearly defined by his tenure with the Braves... Nevertheless, I find I feel a sense of ownership over Glavine's pursuit of 300. A not insignificant part of that ownership is likely thanks to the fact... that talk of 300 wins has surrounded Glavine since he signed with the Mets.

[I]n suffering along with us in 2003/2004 and being the ace of the staff during the best season we'd seen in 18 years, Glavine deserves his respect. And when the big moment arrives and Glavine puts win No. 300 in the record books, we as Mets fans deserve to feel like we've earned it, too."

It's 6-3 now and the bases are loaded for the Mets with Shawn Green up. It's looking good for Glavine. In the six months since I wrote the above, the feeling of ownership has, for me, only grown stronger. With every victory we kept track... 291... 296... 299. With every victory we saw interviews and read articles about the chase.

In a season where it feels like the team has gone through the motions a little bit, waiting for October to arrive to get a chance to right the wrong of 2006, the hunt for 300 has been something to latch on to and feel inspired by.

I'm not sure we'll never see another 300-game winner, but in an age of the cream, the clear, the flaxseed oil, and the what have you, well, 300 wins for a soft-tosser seems infinitely more impressive than 500 HRs for A-Rod or, almost implausibly, 755 for Bonds.

It's an accomplishment you can take at face value, and if nothing else, that's something to savor in this era.

So good for you, Tommy. 7-3 now heading in to the bottom of the 8th. It's looking good, pal. I can't tell you how much grief you caused me in my younger days, but it's all forgiven tonight. You've earned it. Way to go.

- A.F.O.M.G.