Sunday, April 23, 2006

I almost miss Jose Mesa

Last April I went to two Pirates/Giants games hoping to see Jose Mesa throw at Omar Vizquel and for all hell to break loose (some history for the uninformed: after Vizquel blamed Mesa for blowing a save in Game 7 and losing the '97 Series. Joey Table literally threatened to kill his former Indians teammate and made a statement somewhere along the lines of "If I face him 10 times, I'll bean him 10 times). I've been to a ton of baseball games in my life, but I've never seen a brawl. Ever. So, for the only two times in my life, I set out to PNC actually hoping to see Jose Mesa take the mound. Of course, the Mesa and Vizquel never faced off on those cold April nights and I left PNC as I often do, feeling unsatisfied. So what happens? Mesa gets signed by the Rockies and guns at Vizquel the first chance he gets, which leads to today's beanball/ejection fest (highlighted by Matt Morris being tossed after EIGHT pitches in the first inning). I could've been a part of something great if the Pirates could've just gotten a lead against San Fran last spring. But nooooo, they had to go and lost both games and not set the table for one of modern baseball's most entertaining feuds to continue.