Scrapbook Night

Part one: Last night's 8-7 win over the Cardinals will surely make the end-of-year highlight reel. Early on there were hints of a pitcher's duel. Then it became an Albert Pujols/Carlos Delgado showdown. Finally, it was the greatest of comebacks. All with Bill and Roger Clinton in attendance.

Part two: I am now the second most devoted Mets fan in my household. That's probably been true for a long while, but I finally realized it last night. I thought I did myself proud by not giving up when the game was 4-1, but yes, I did walk away at 7-1. I had work to do. My wife, Allie, though, never wavered. She alerted me to the brewing rally and I was able to see Delgado's 3-run homer. Were it not for her I'd have been asleep long before the ninth inning comeback.

Part three: Timo Perez was greeted with a mix of cheers and jeers when he pinch hit last night. Fair enough. He was amazing in the 2000 playoffs and fell asleep in the 2000 World Series. He deserved a mixed reaction.

Bradon Looper was doused in boos and that was unfair. Granted, he stumbled often as the team's closer last year and we at Zisk were among his more vocal critics. But it's since come out that he was hurt most of last year. Looper informed his coaches but the decision was made to ride it out. To his credit, Looper never complained, taking it for the team for much of the season. It's one thing to boo a guy with no heart, but that's not true of Looper.

Jason Isringhausen was treated like any other opponent, he barely registers as a former Met because it's been so long since he played in Flushing. The only rudeness Isringhausen experienced came at the hands of Beltran's game-winning home run.

Part four: And this is as much a note to my co-editor Steve as anything else...Yes, I have abandoned my original concept of following two Mets, Pedro and Kaz Matsui, over the course of the year. I tried to persevere despite Pedro's injuries and Kaz's being traded, but when my replacement player, Jose Valentin, started missing games I realized that I wasn't taking a break from the concept so much as shelving it.

Part five: I want to publically apologize to my brother Casey for any part I may have played in convincing him to follow the game of baseball. I root for the Red Sox but my heart's not in it when they get crushed, I can walk away unscathed. Casey has no choice. He's become a rabid Sox fan over the past five years and this weekend must have crushed him. I don't know. I'm reluctant to call him. I'm assuming that my mom would have called with the news had he taken his own life or inflicted any bodily harm following this weekend's Boston Massacre. Sorry, Case. Watch those 2004 highlight tapes again and think about next spring.