MLC x GTB: Episode the First

As promised, the first of many (several? some?) semi-recurring posts chronicling the final quarter of the 2024 Major League Baseball season from the perspective of a pair of fans. 

MLB is wiiiiide open at the moment. As of this writing, eight teams are separated by 3.5 games for the best record in baseball. The Cleveland Guardians hold that top spot, for those of you scoring at home. And for those that are alone. Unfortunately, neither the Red Sox nor the Mets are in that mix. Fear not, though, as both have a fighting chance at making the postseason. ESPN's math wizards give Boston a 32.5% chance of making the playoffs, while the New York nine clock in at 18.7%. The season, she has some twists and turns left in her.

Without further ado, then.

The State of Play - Red Sox

Red Sox 5, Orioles 1
Record: 65-57
7 GB AL East, 2.5 GB Last AL Wild Card

Who are these guys? That question is more of an indictment of the slow, but fairly steady decline of my day to day interest in major league baseball than it is of the players on the Sox' roster. Life gets in the way, and all that. 

There was a time in early adulthood when I could rattle off the batting order, and pitching rotation, and give you a few nuggets about the kids waiting in Pawtucket. Now the Sox' AAA franchise is in Worcester (go WooSox!), and I couldn't make it halfway through the lineup. I still follow the team's fortunes - look at the box score most days and at least scan the scores and standings regularly. All of this is to say I'm looking forward to reconnecting over the next couple months.

I watched most of last night's game, where Brayan Bello took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, Jarren Duran broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh with a two-run single, and Rafael Devers smoked a chin-high fastball deep into the Baltimore night for the final margin. Duran and Devers have been the club's offensive engine for most of the season, the latter expected, the former more of a pleasant surprise as Duran has emerged in his first full campaign as a dynamic offensive weapon at the top of the order.

Less pleasant, Duran's recent homophobic outburst and somewhat petulant response. The All-Star game MVP has spoken openly about his struggles with mental health, which is admirable, but not an excuse for calling a fan such a slur. Everyone's said the right things about Duran's need to learn from his mistake, but the proof in these things is in the pudding. Color me a little bit skeptical.

Back on the field, the Sox have been a bit imbalanced. They're third in the AL in OPS and runs scored (and second in stolen bases - who are these guys, indeed!). They can rake. On the mound, a bit more of a mixed bag, ranking in the bottom half of the league in ERA, runs allowed, and WHIP. Tanner Houck's been really good, his 3.01 ERA tops on the staff, but he's seen his ERA rise from 1.91 in early June to his current mark. The rest of the rotation all carries ERAs over 4.21. Kinda mid, as the kids say.

We won't talk about fielding, except to say that it looks like the Sox don't talk about it (or practice it) much. Dead last in the league in fielding percentage, top of the list in errors made. Not great, Bob.

And with all that, we're in with a shout for a playoff berth. Lotta ball left. Stay on target.

The State of Play - Mets

Mets 4, Marlins 0
Record: 64-59
9 GB AL East, 1 GB Last NL Wild Card

Meanwhile, somewhere in Queens... since we last tuned in...

So this has been how the brain trust that has operated the Mets for the better part of the last 20 years has been doing things.

New eras, new squads, new mentalities, new management, and new campaigns have dawned and faltered. The lone exception was the 2015 season, one during which I frequently wished we'd kept the Misery Loves Company jalopy gassed up. World Series! I know, I know, the once beleaguered Red Sox Nation now considers such things de rigueur, but over here in Mets Township, such milestones are rare mountaintops 'twixt long stretches of barren valley. I went to a couple of NLCS games that year, one thanks to Marls, but I never made it to the Series. Which they lost rather handily to the (!) Kansas City Royals.

And two seasons after that, it was back to the doldrums. Feels like home.

Like my Sox-loving buddy, I've let my once avid fandom and following of my favorite team wane through the years. There have been moments that sucked me back in like a tractor beam:

I was jazzed at the "potential" and "opportunity" we thought we had the past two seasons. Stupid words that always seem to curse this club. Owner Steve Cohen's Damn the Tax Torpedoes approach was tons of fun when we inked Verlander to join Scherzer and Lindor to tee up Polar Pete. Then... as if on cue... the Mets do me like that and leave me living like a refugee. And I shrug it all off and arm's-length it for a while. 

Cue the 3rd Bass:
But now in '04, we got new life, a new wife, looking like the same old strife
Same old teams with big dreams so we got to make sure
That MLC has got to endure

Something like that. So what of this club? Good question.

The 2004 Mets are as middle of the pack as they could be. They wallowed a bit below .500 in the early months, they surged and plateaued a bit above .500 for the past month or two. They hit for some pop but lead no offensive categories, including nose hair. They pitch decently well, walking more than any other NL team, but they maintain well enough. In the field, well, they're not the Punt, Pass, & Kick show that the Sox are, but they're... they're not good. And with elder OF Starling "Dead Man's" Marte coming back from the IL, that won't get better. But all in all, they're fine.

That's the summary of the Mets: fine. They're not so fine, like art. They're just fine. 

But they're in the race. They've had injury setbacks, mainly on their pitching staff, that could have felled them. But they're right there, one game back of the vaunted Braves. Severino / Manaea / Quintana / Peterson / Blackburn scares nobody. But let's keep on chugging. 

Pete Alonso is still on the team. I rooted for that. I root for him to be a Met for life, just because I like rooting for him. But he's been mediocre all season, and he's trending downward dog, as a nod to Rob. He's fallen out of the cleanup spot, and took it well enough, but come on. Lindor / Vientos / Nimmo / Martinez / Alonso scares nobody. And yet... here we go.

Longtime Mets fans and MLC readers will remember the Fred Wilpon quip of 20 years ago that this team needs to play "meaningful games in September." (After which there would be pointless games in June.) Well, here we are on August 18, and these are high-stakes games for the New York Mets (and Boston Red Sox.) 

Good enough for now. 

LFGM.