Mets Walk-Offs And Minutiae

Because I heard it mocked in Letterman's interview with David Wright the other day and saw it referenced in several blogs regarding Mike Pelfrey, I thought I'd share an excerpt from a conversation I had with a former major leaguer in regards to, for lack of a better term, this tongue-sticking-out thing. I don't have the background in physiology to confirm that his words are accurate, but I'm trusting of them. To paraphrase what was told to me: It's good that they do that...Almost every pro athlete does it in some way...remember Michael Jordan? I used to wonder after I'd play why my tongue would hurt after a game...It was explained to me that by sticking out your tongue, you're relaxing your body. You know that if you clench your teeth, you tense up, and your muscles all tense up too. That's why someone like Roger Clemens wears a mouthpiece, because he doesn't want to clench his teeth Sticking out your tongue releases that tension. It allows you to

OK, I’m just back from the Steel City and before you ask whether the trip was for business or pleasure, let me just say it was neither. That’s as in: it’s none of your business and there wasn’t much pleasure involved. Sorry to be a sourpuss, but my last few days haven’t been exactly fun-filled. It was a particularly bad omen when the first face I saw upon checking into my hotel was Bobby Bonilla, sporting a grin so wide I thought he’d be asking if I wanted to be shown the Bronx . The total damage included a cut on my right hand (no idea how), an ink stain on my khakis (no idea how) and a broken luggage cart (no idea how, and for $10, I got what I paid for). We won’t get into the botched flight arrangements, travel delays, or screaming babies because they aren’t relevant anymore, nor is the $700 worth of auto maintenance that became necessary two days before the trip. What is relevant was going to be an NL victory in the All-Star Game and for 8 innings, it felt like everything that