A Dickey vs. A Dick

In Thursday's 8-6 victory in St. Louis, the Mets rallied for six runs in the ninth inning against the wild card contending Cardinals and Bobby Parnell registered his sixth save of the season, his first in which he retired every batter to face him.

After a rainout last night, the Mets play a day-night doubleheader today at Citi Field, a place that has not been too kind to them in 2011.  After registering an 88-74 record at home over the last two seasons, the Mets are 31-44 in their home whites and could finish with their poorest record at home since 1993, when they went 28-53.  (The Mets went 34-46 at Shea Stadium in 2003.)  They have already clinched their first losing season at home since 2004, when they finished 38-43 at Shea Stadium under the "tutelage" of Art Howe.

If the Mets don't want to finish with their worst home record since the days of their feared Frank Tanana, Eric Hillman and Dave Telgheder rotation (hey, don't go hatin' on Telgheder - he was 6-2 in '93), they'll need to come up big against the Phillies and Reds over their final six games.

It all begins today, when R.A. Dickey takes the mound to oppose Cole Hamels, or as we like to call this matchup at Studious Metsimus, it's a Dickey vs. a dick.

R.A. Dickey might be a man of many words, but he is not nearly the multi-tasker Cole Hamels is.  After all, Hamels has proven that he can be an ass and a dick at the same time.

R.A. Dickey has been red hot lately, but unfortunately, he doesn't have the wins to show for it.  Over his last 23 starts, Dickey has pitched to a cool 2.75 ERA.  However, although the Mets have won 12 of those 23 starts, Dickey has only gotten credit for seven of them.  Dickey also hasn't given up more than three earned runs since July 20, a span of 11 starts.

Hamels, on the other hand, has been awful recently, losing his last two starts to the lowly Astros and the contending Cardinals.  After posting a 2.58 ERA over the first five months of the season, Hamels has registered a 4.18 ERA in the month of September.  And let's not even get started with his lifetime record against the Mets.  Ah, forget that.  Let's talk about it right now!

In 16 career starts against the Mets, Hamels is 3-10 with a 4.69 ERA.  Most people learn from their mistakes.  Cole Hamels is not most people.  In 2011, Hamels is 1-2 against New York and is the proud owner of a 9.64 ERA against the Mets.

One person who remembers Hamels very well is R.A. Dickey.  On August 13, 2010, Dickey pitched the best game of his life, completing a one-hit shutout against the Phillies at Citi Field.  The lone hit was a soft sixth inning single by (you guessed it) Cole Hamels.

The recipe is there for a victory.  It's the red hot R.A. Dickey on the mound for the Mets.  It's the ass who's also a dick taking the ball for the Phillies.  Philadelphia has already clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs (including the World Series, if they make it that far).  The Mets are just trying to re-establish their home-field advantage.  I'll take my chances with a Dickey over a dick anytime.

My Memories of Memorial Day

For many people, Memorial Day represents the unofficial beginning of summer. From spending the day at the beach (unless if you grew up with Mike Pelfrey and spent hours looking for the perfect beach until you realized there were no beaches in Kansas) to firing up the barbecue, Memorial Day is a day for relaxation and for some people, baseball.

I have many fond memories of Memorial Day. The game that turned me into a Mookie Wilson fan for life occurred on Memorial Day (May 25, 1981) when I watched Mookie reach base four times on two walks, a single and a two-run triple against former Met Tug McGraw. He also stole second base in the first inning, leading to the first of his three runs scored on the day. The Mets blew out the defending World Champion Phillies by the final score of 13-3 and from that day forward, I would be forever hooked on Mookie Wilson and the Mets.

I also remember Memorial Day in 1986, but not because of a memorable Mets game. Rather, I remember that day because there was no Mets game scheduled for that day. I thought it was odd that on a national holiday, the day that unofficially kicked off the summer season, there was no Mets game to watch. Then again, perhaps it was better for the Mets to have that day off. After all, they had gone 6-6 over their past 12 games after their red-hot 21-5 start and only had a four-game lead in the division. After their Memorial Day respite, the Mets won 27 of their next 37 games, culminating in their extra-inning victory against the Astros on the Fourth of July. By then, the Mets had a 12½-game lead in the division and were well on their way to turning Davey Johnson into a prophet by dominating the NL East.

I actually didn't attend a Memorial Day game in person until 1994, when the Mets were taking on the Colorado Rockies, who were in their sophomore season. Unfortunately, that game didn't produce the type of memories I wanted to have, as Mets' starter Mauro Gozzo (yes, the same Mauro Gozzo that was traded away by the Mets to acquire David Cone seven years earlier) left the game in the sixth inning after loading up the bases with no outs and the Mets trailing by a run. Mike Maddux then promptly gave up a grand slam to the first batter he faced, Andres Galarraga, and the Rockie offensive avalanche was on. The Rockies added five runs in the seventh (three of which came on the strength of a long home run by John Vander Wal, who had only hit 11 HR in almost four big league seasons up to that point) and another run in the eighth on their way to a 12-2 victory over the Mets. It was my first Memorial Day game at Shea Stadium and it would be my last, as memories of a lineup consisting of Jose Vizcaino leading off, Shawn Hare batting second and pitchers Gozzo, Maddux, Eric Hillman and Frank Seminara sharing duties in this horrendous effort made me want to listen to the dulcet tones of Bob Murphy on the radio instead of the three-hour serenade of boos at Shea Stadium on every Memorial Day after that day.

So now let's fast-forward to 2011. Today will be the first time I attend a Mets home game on Memorial Day since that 12-2 debacle in 1994. It can't get any worse that, can it? (Actually, it did, because last year the Mets lost to the Padres in San Diego on Memorial Day by the score of 18-6, a game started by Hisanori Takahashi and finished by your friend and mine, Oliver Perez, who arguably had his best outing of the year, giving up two runs, four hits [including a home run], one walk and one hit batsman in 2.2 innings.) Will the Mets give me a positive Memorial Day memory today like they did thirty years ago during my first season of fandom, or will they give me memories I'd rather forget, like they did in 1994, when the only players worth cheering were Jeff Kent (ugh) and Bobby Bonilla (double ugh)?

Regardless of what type of memories the Mets give me today, please don't forget the true meaning of Memorial Day. While you're catching rays at the beach or munching on burgers and hot dogs in your backyard (hopefully listening to Mets coverage), please remember to honor all of the men and women who have fought for your right to live your life freely in America. These brave people gave their lives so that you can have a day like today when you can relax and do whatever you choose to do. Some countries don't allow the freedoms that Americans sometimes take for granted. Don't ever take for granted the men and women who have fought to keep those freedoms alive.

May all of you have a happy and safe Memorial Day, doing all the things you're free to do.