Mets Finally do Right Thing with K-Rod
The power went out in my building around the time the Phillies tied the score with the Mets 3-3 in the eighth inning. By the time the power came back, the game was over and I went online to find out the Mets lost 6-4. There was one saving grace — the Mets finally showed they will not let Francisco Rodriguez finish 55 games.
K-Rod came in to pitch the ninth with the score tied at three and promptly allowed three runs on five hits. He apparently didn’t have it, and instead of letting him finish the inning as most managers do with closers, Terry Collins removed K-Rod from the game (below) with two outs in the ninth. Tim Byrdak got the final out, depriving K-Rod of another game finished.
Aside from the K-Rod’s game finished vesting option, I have always been a big proponent of doing this. Why let a closer finish an inning if he’s pitching poorly? He should be subject to removal like every other pitcher. Earlier this season in a game against the Mets, Rockies closer Huston Street was removed from a game after blowing a save. The Mets announcers were stunned, pointing out how rare it is to take out a closer in the middle of an inning. It should not be.
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The truly bad news for the Mets and their fans was off the field today — doctors at Duke University told Gary Carter that they are “90% certain” that the four small tumors in his brain are malignant.
One of his daughters wrote on the family’s website:
It was very hard for all of us to hear, as we have been hoping and praying that the tumors would be benign. Lots of tears have been shed in the hospital room today, and we are all a bit scared of the unknown.
Carter will get the official diagnosis next week, at which time he is expected to begin chemotherapy and radiation. Doctors said even if the tumors are malignant, they are treatable.
(The doctor) wants us all to team up and help Dad through the battle ahead. He said that this IS treatable and they will attack it with the same kind of vigor that Dad displayed on the baseball diamond!