It is beautiful out in New York City today...  currently 58 and expected to get up to 67.  It will probably be 22 by Monday, but what can you do.

Anyway, I biked in this morning and made my usual stop at the gym first, to workout and and cleanup.   The NYSC on 35th and Madison, unlike the other ones I've been to, has no poles in front of it... no parking meter, streetlamp... anything.  The only place to lock my bike is on the corner of 36th against the walk/don't walk sign... which is a little ways down.  I'm not totally comfortable with that, and so I asked at the gym about a place to put it inside.

So, the woman at the desk said that I couldn't bring it in because they couldn't be responsible.  I wasn't asking for that...  I just felt safer if it was inside.  And, actually, if they had a bike rack inside, and someone came in with some clippers, I'd imagine she'd at least call the cops or something, just to be nice.  She suggested I talk to the manager.

The manager said there were some places around the corner, which of course, defeats the purpose.  He also said they tried to get the city to put in some bike racks across the street, but they didn't get anywhere.  "What about a rack in the club here?"   The club has a double entrence and in between the inner and outer doors, there's a perfect space for a small bike rack.

This is where it gets ridiculous. 

"Oh, we can't have that because this is a high visability club."

I knew what he meant, but I just wanted to get him to say it.

"High visability?"

"Well, it's a nice location that a lot of people come to so we can't go messing it up with a bunch of bikes that people can see."

"Umm...  doesn't biking sort of fit with the whole gym concept?  You know...  exercise.  Just seems to me a gym, of all places, should be bike friendly?"

"I see how that might make sense, but I don't think that's something we're going to do here."

The ironic thing is that, every year, New York Sports Club sponsors a team in the Five Borough Bike Tour. 

They're all about biking, so long as it's not near one of their clubs, because bikes are aestheticly displeasing.  Let me tell you, bikes are pretty far down the list of aestheticly displeasing things I've seen at the gym...   I wish they would ban the hairy naked guy that towels off next to me with one foot up on the bench. 

I just don't understand how you could go down looking in Game 7 with the bases loaded and a chance to tie or win the game.  That just hurts.

Gotta give it to Perez for holding his own this series... Maine, too.  Much to look forward to next year, but, man, this stings.  I lack the words.

I didn't think it would come to this.

I didn't want it to.

I think I'm going to hole myself up in my apartment and not come out until its over.  My whole entire season depends on Oliver Perez.   They better score 12 runs.

I don't understand why we're not starting Darren Oliver.

The guy pitched 6 scoreless the other day... AND...  and this I didn't realize today... he's got a great postseason start under his belt.  In 1996, with the Rangers, he left the 9th inning of Game 3 with a 2-1 lead and two on and none out.  The Rangers bullpen couldn't hold it, so he got the loss, but still...  that makes him a lot more qualifed to start than Perez, who honestly got battered the other night.  He just had a lot of run support.

I don't really understand what goes on in Willie's head.   Maine bats in the bottom of the 5th, only to get taken out after the leadoff guy reaches base in the 6th... that was after he fanned Pujos to end the 5th.  The guy was cruising and he goes to the pen in the 6th inning.  Why strain the pen when your starter is cruising and you know you're going to need at least four innings out of them the next night?   He could have gotten one more inning out of Maine.

So now we get to watch Wild Thing fall off the mound because he can't figure out a windup that works.

They better score 12.  Please, let them score 12...  in the first.

This weekend, I was reminded about not beating yourself.

Saturday night, I watched Steve Trachsel make a mess out of a pivotal playoff start by not throwing strikes.  Granted, the Mets offense was nowhere to be found, but Trachsel couldn't make it out of the second inning because he walked five batters.  When you walk that many batters, your fielders fall back on their heels and when you do actually let the other team put the ball in play, they wind up missing a lot of balls by just a half step, which is what happened.

Then, tonight, my Zog team played a fall softball game.  We couldn't field our way out of a hat.  It was awful.  We're normally a very good fielding team, but we threw the ball around and bobbled a lot of easy plays.  We found ourselves down 20-6.  We even managed to score 10 runs with two outs in the last inning, but it wasn't enough.  It was a game that got away because we beat ourselves.

So back to the Mets.  Enter Oliver Perez... a guy who has been beating himself for two seasons by not throwing strikes.  The Mets needed to stay in this game badly.  The bats were cold and Perez was a wildcard.  Well, he wasn't perfect, but he didn't beat himself.  He threw strikes... and kept them close until the Mets offense exploded.  Up by seven runs, he kept throwing strikes even when the Cards started hitting home runs...   three home runs.. all solo shots, because he wasn't walking batters ahead of those hits.  He left in the sixth inning with a big lead, and for a guy who went 3-13 this season, that's about all you could have asked from him.  Unlike the guy who pitched the night before who rang up 15 wins this season, he didn't beat himself.   

That makes such a huge difference in any aspect of your life.  Make the other guy beat you.  I manufactured a run in my Zog game tonight by lining to right and not stopping when I saw the right fielder bobble the ball.  Let him throw me out.  If me makes the play, I'd get up, say, "Nice throw" and walk off... but I was forcing him to be better to get the better of me.  Then, on a bloop single to right again, I ran through a stop sign on the way home.

Let them throw you out at the plate.... don't hand them your opportunity to shine.

Glavine's performance last night was wonderfully boring, as usual.  Nice to see Beltran hitting at home, too.  Wagner?  He's John Franco with a 100 MPH fastball...  always out of the strike zone, always makes it interesting.

So I'm totally jumping ahead here, but I hope they sweep, just because it would enable us to pitch Glavine twice against Detroit.   

Very sad story...   Turns out the pilot of the small plane in NYC was Yanks' pitcher Corey Lidle, who got his started in the majors with Mets.  Lidle died in the crash. 

If it were me, I'd want them to play tonight's game, but out of respect for the family and for Lidle, I agree with Brooklyn Met Fan, they should probably cancel. 

Chumps.