Strike Gramps

insert Mets joke here

4 Seconds A Day: April 2014

I need another cameraman

Baseball Can Be Boring

Me and my father and brother went to a Mets game tonight.  They lost. Big surprise.

Decent game at least. No big apple. Nothing exciting. We sat next to a guy that got interviewed. And I drank two very large beers and a scarfed a bag of peanuts. That was the highlight. Go Mets.

Not Even For The Tacos

I have not watched a single game, a single inning. I did hear they won today.

I could care less. I heard they lost Harvey to possibly Tommy John.

I care a little.

I don't know if I've finally given in to the absolute boredom that occurs while watching a game, nonetheless of a terrible team, or if I just genuinely have better things to do.

I'll go with the latter.

I guess it's still possible that we go to a late season fall game, get Yuula a new life experience, eat some of those delicious Citi-tacos.

Mmm cilantro.

Somebody find us some cheap tickets.

What's A Cowgill?

I am to understand that yesterday was also opening day. Hard to get excited about a game versus the Padres, but also hard to get excited when you're a Mets fan period. I went to the bathroom at lunch and actually caught the first run of the year, scored by Buck I think off a Tejada single. Then after we ate and came back to play some photo hunt I saw the 7-2 gap and was content. Seems like I missed some action, but I'll have 161 more chances. 

go mets

She Throws Sidearm

I think the Mets are looking to fill out their starting rotation....

Cy And Bye And Sigh

So I haven't paid any attention to baseball in months and look what happens. Apparently back in December the Mets traded last year's knight in shining armor, R.A. Dickey to the Bluejays for some these dudes up above. That and some other collateral damage. Flip-flopping a young catcher and a washed up catcher for a younger and a washer upper catcher as well, but I guess Thole had to go because ain't no one else catching that wicked Cy Young knuckle ball. So now they got Reyes and Dickey up in Canada. Lucky ducks. Lucky geese.

We get a couple of fine young men in D'Arnaud & Syndergaard, a catcher and a pitcher, but we let go of the only thing that had 90% of the Mets fans watching games after the All-Star break last year...

...c'mon now. I'm gonna have to route for Toronto now.

Pitchers/Catchers

Met4Life

In the recent dark days of Metdom, it seemed no one would be remotely interested in being associated with this team, long term, short term or any term in between. We've seen Beltran fly the coup, Reyes head for greener pastures, and I was sure that it was just a matter of time before Wright wised up and threw his hat into the free agency. But today word comes down that not only is Wright gonna stick around, apparently he's sticking around for awhile, possibly the rest of his career. The ink on the seven year $138 million contract has yet to dry, but it doesn't mean that I can't throw a mini-celebration tonight as a relief that finally someone likes us enough to wanna stick around. 

R.A. Is The C.Y.

Wow! I did not follow the second half of their miserable season, but I did hear murmurings of how well Dickey pitching and I did catch his final few starts of the season, seeing him win his 20th game (a feat most statisticians deemed "improbable" in the modern era) and felt a undeserved sense of pride in simply sticking with my team. I read he is the first knuckleballer to ever win the honor of Cy Young award and to make the fairytale ever more fairy-like, two years ago Dickey was cut from the Mets, the 38 year old thinking his career may be over. Fast forward to 2012 and this happens. Who knows what's next. The Mets fan in me says come back and do it again. The human side says, say 'thanks for the memories", ride off into the sunset, and rest that wobble.

BuhBye BuhBay

Three seasons of misery and concussion recovery and Bay is finally gone. I was as excited as the next guy to see him come over from Boston but I ain't shedding a tear for him now. Not for anyone on this team really. I guess now we just sit back and watch him hit .315 and hit 40 homeruns with Florida next year or something. Such is life in Flushing.

While The Diamond Is Still Relevant

...how about some baseball humor at my own expense?

R.A. = 20 / Yuula = 103.1

RA just won 20 games, probably the only silver lining in a season that has seemed to evaporated since the No-han. So that was nice.

In other news, Yuula just woke up from an unscheduled nap, and she's on fire.

It Has Happened

I wake this morning with an unfettered sense of righteousness, no longer a feeling of persecution or looked poorly upon for my allegiances, my loyalties, and ultimately validating my hours upon hours spent watching for such life-altering moments. The sun seems to rise a little slower on this day yet with more urgency, the birds song is more lovely and forthright tho I thought it not possible, and my cup of steaming lemon lift is an unexpectedly delicious introduction to what appears to be a renewal of life, a new lease on pride and dignity as I now live in a world in which I can hold my head high, no matter how bright the orange and blue insignia emblazoned upon my chapeau of 100% wooly goodness may shine, giving me the free reign to never again hide behind the excuse of entrenchment in enemy geography or however severe the lack in most recent achievement may be, no longer can we be targeted as the butt of every joke, the proverbial ugly stepchild, the unfortunate and untimely victims of happenstance, I can raise my child to know that we have been reaffirmed as one in fate, a cosmic alignment has occurred and a universal wrong has been righted, and there is nothing anywhere that can ever take that away from us.*

Simply put, The New York Metropolitans have a no-hitter!

For a team that's been counted out of the 2012 season since last October it's been a pretty decent season already. Last night was our World Series as far as I'm concerned, this season is already a great one. Maybe we'll make it out to the park.

Here's the entire top of the 9th in case you missed it, quality questionable.

Sorry Padres.

*nothing except maybe the bad call on Carlos Beltran's single just into fair territory in the 6th.

Valdespin!

That's one way to get your first major league hit, break a 9th inning tie in your rivals house on a 3 run homerun off Jonathan Papelbon...

watch dumbfounded Phillie fans here

In A Banana Chip & Pasta Coma

Nothing doing. Grocery binge this morning. Our cupboards were bare. Laura's on her way home. We're both mysteriously exhausted. The small bouts of yardwork are doing us in. We are out of that shape. She wants to do Insanity. She is insanity. Tomorrow is gonna be busy. Up at 6, recycling, quarry, home, treefarm, home, and trying to shape it all in between. We're hoping by the end of the month you won't even recognize our front yard. Don't worry. We'll give you the new directions. For now, I'll watch the Mets lose to Houston (again) and drink a warm glass of water.

Blowouts, Baths & Burning Tongue

This was my day.

We spent the entire morning retracing Laura's steps from yesterday because she lost her check. Her very first live check after cancelling her direct deposit and it has disappeared. It could be at Nissan. It could be at the outlets. It could be in the kitchen somewhere. I think we'll never know. But that was a debacle.

Then in the last two twenty four hours both active sports teams I root for were demolished in heartbreaking and quite honestly, embarrassing losses. Mets by 9 to the Rockies last night and today the Knicks lost game one of the playoffs by 33 to Miami. This is going to sound like a bitter fan but LeBron James should be nominated for an Oscar. If that's how he has to do it to win, I hope he can convince himself it's legit.

So tonight I made some eggs and toast and gave Yuula a bath. I gooped on the new pepper jam I bought from Ross & Ross the other day. There should've been a "no-gooping" warning because I spent the next 15 minutes cooling my tongue with a glass of ice. Yuula had strawberry.

Now I wait for Laura to get home and we do it all over again.

Describe My Perfect Date

Favorite birthday in a long time. Started off with a a surprise gift bag on the kitchen table containing new sweatshorts (since mine have recently been deemed unsavory to wear in mixed company), a case of ginger beer, and my very own boppy which I know is a baby pillow but they are so comfy and really help me not wake up with a stiff neck. So now everyone in the house has their own. No more middle of the night ransacking. Then a visit to Yuula's doctor where she got a clean bill of health and two needles in the leg. But she's a pro now. Shook it off before we left the office. Plus it was quite nice to visit their new office. So official. And as long as they still hand out pretzel rods, they're out pediatricians.

We stopped in at Ross & Ross to see if we were fit to be tree owners and it turns out that we had more confidence in ourselves than we thought. Kathy spent about two hours with us talked us thru the whole process so we love her now. Plus she gave Yuula a little ladybug shovel. New favorite nursery. Three trees tagged and ready for pickup, hopefully tomorrow but right now the truck is full of bulk trash so...

Couple tacos for lunch and some lite grocery, then home. Yuula tried to take a nap but I think she was more excited about my birthday than me. I tried to motivate to get outside to do a little yardwork but the rain was on and off and the bed was so comfy. But that was just a quick nap, then onto afternoon dance party and making dinner, of which Yuula was quite the helping hand I hear.

Honey Bunny joined us for the meal.

And, as it is in on an Estler birthday...

She helped herself to this one, too.

Not too bad. Laura let me watch both Mets & Knicks game with minimal groaning and they both won. I fell asleep letting her catch up on New Girl and getting an ear rub. Seriously, I don't know what more I could've asked for.

How They Already Up?

Game just started!

No Games Back

Go ahead and say that it's only been three games.

For some fans of some teams, that's enough.

We'll take what we can get.

That sure is pretty tho.

Go Pelf!