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Zum Ollie Ollie

One of the few things I picked up from the three years that was Hebrew School at Temple Shaaray Tefila was a rather catchy song paying tribute to the formation of Israel, one that went like this.

Zum gali gali gali, Zum gali gali,
Zum gali gali gali,Zum gali gali.

He-chalutz le'maan avodah,
Avodah le'maan he-chalutz.
He-chalutz le'maan avodah,
Avodah le'maan he-chalutz.

The beauty of this tune is that the first two lines are just rhythmic words, meaning that they can mean whatever I like. So in my Mets oriented world, I would define them as such

The man throws fast
And then he skips over the white line

If Oliver Perez keeps beating the Braves the way that he has this season, perhaps a lyricist will come along with something more appropriate. But in the meantime, the kind of performances Perez had last night are music to my ears.

And now for the minutiae (thank you, Baseball-Reference.com)...

* Oliver Perez has 3 wins against the Braves this season. It's the fifth straight season that a Mets pitcher has beaten the Braves 3 times.

2007- Oliver Perez
2006- Pedro Martinez
2005- Pedro Martinez
2004- Steve Trachsel
2003- Al Leiter

* The Mets record for most wins against the Braves in a season is a very reachable 4, by Tom Seaver in his rookie season of 1967. Seaver was 4-1 with a 1.98 ERA against the Braves that year, the team whose illegal signing of Seaver led to his eventual arrival with the Mets.

* Only three Mets pitchers have started a season by winning their first 3 starts against the Braves. They are Oliver Perez, Pedro Martinez (2006) and Tom Seaver (1969).

* Oliver Perez is tied for 14th in team history with 4 wins against the Braves. Your top 7 Mets winners against the Braves are:

Tom Seaver 21
Ron Darling 13
Steve Trachsel 9
Al Leiter 9
Jerry Koosman 9
David Cone 9
Dwight Gooden 8

* The Mets record for losses in a season against the Braves is 4- shared by Tom Glavine (2003) and Jack Fisher (1966). In one sentence, that sums up why I much prefer Oliver Perez to Tom Glavine.

True Metezs know...The english version of the second verse of "Zum, Gali, Gali" is

From the dawn till setting sun
Every one finds work to be done.
From the dawn till night does come
There's a task for everyone

and the Hebrew to English translation is

The pioneer for the sake of the work,
The work for the sake of the pioneer.
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Comments

Marci said…
Which Temple Shaaray Tefila did you go to? Westchester or Manhattan?
11:05 AM
metswalkoffs said…
Manhattan...79th street and 2nd avenue
11:08 AM
metswalkoffs said…
OK, and now I just figured out why you asked...

I had my bar mitzvah there in January, 1988, if I remember right.

Have not been back there in a long time, though my mom still goes on the holidays.
11:14 AM
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