With nothing left to play for and AJ Burnett pitching the game of his life, the Mets showed a rare bit of character last night in their 3-2, 12 inning win, reliever Aaron Heilman in particular.
Juan Pierre, one of the best bunters in the world, failed to get one down in a critical situation. Cliff Floyd, one of the softest arms in the majors, nailed Jeff Conine on a bounce-bounce-bouncing throw at the plate. Joe Dillon, one of the remaining Marlins with functioning legs, somehow fell down in turning a double into a single.
For the record, Clifford has 13 assists in 2005. All season long, third base coaches have been challenging the Mets’ left fielder and coming up short. And on the matter of guys with nothing left to play for, how about the still-ailing Mike Piazza withstanding Jeff Conine’s collision and still catching 12 innings last night…in front of fewer people than Savatage usually play to..
If you’ve not been watching the last two Indians/White Sox games, you’re excused from not knowing the playoffs have already started.
14 assists, after last night, which puts him in the NL lead. His range isn’t everything it once was, but is it too much to consider Cliffy a dark horse Gold Glove candidate? He has the primary qualification for a Gold Glove down already: he hits well. Unfortunately the other guarantor of Gold Glove consideration – already having won a bunch – isn’t there. But he’s been great, all year long, and clearly a victim of premature burial last season on my part and in the minds of many others.
And Heilman: wow. I don’t get why he can’t be the closer. He was getting the ball up there at 97mph last night, and his ERA is 0.98 since the break. He strikes people out. He gets out righties AND lefties. So clearly he’s not closer material, and the Mets should pay Kyle Farnsworth a bunch of money to come here, periodically get outs, and pick fights at the Village Idiot.
David,
I stand corrected – ESPN’s stats page hadn’t been updated to reflect last night’s game yet.
and yeah,I buried him, too. When Cliff was threatening to retire, my reaction was “please, hurry up and do it”. He’s been terrific in LF ; either Floyd is just more adept at masking physical pain than anyone else on earth, or he did some crazy work last winter getting his legs in proper condition.
Of course, lest we think assists alone are an indicator of Gold Glove status, keep in mind that Manny Ramirez has 16.