Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Chapter 49.35: Remember the Maine

Well, I'm not batting too well so far. Santana lost at home for the first time this season. The Padres were beat. The Tigers couldn't do enough, but that's not really a surprise.

Now my Mets are hamstrung. Everything depends on El Duque's calf muscle MRI now. Expecting the worst, I assume he won't be able to pitch during this series, and I think they should retain either lefty Dave Williams or rookie Brian Bannister as the potential fourth starter/long man. I'm also expecting to see John Maine get the start today. I vaguely recall Bob Walk starting game one of the 1980 NLCS for the Phillies, so it's not unprecedented to have a rookie in such a pressure-packed role, and Maine has been solid.

While I'd prefer to have the proven El Duque, I'm hopeful Mr. Maine will give us a performance that Mets fans will look back on fondly for many years.

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