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Just Not In The Cards

I'm not convinced that Daniel Murphy slipped.

I think he was trying to avoid the baseball for safety's sake.

I say that because we've seen that sort of thing in St. Louis before, in a similar kind of gakking encounter.

I've alluded to the game of June 1, 1991 once before and the memory of it is still etched in the brain some 18 years later.

It was a similar sort of affair, one in which the Mets built a 5-0 lead with single runs in the first and second, and a 3-spot in the fourth.. But once the Cardinals bullpen went to work, the Mets bats went silent.

A Frank Viola balk aided a three-run Cardinals fourth. An error by Kevin Elster led to another tally in the fifth and then a miscue by Rick Cerone eventually brought the tying run home in the seventh.

The Mets did nothing over a five-inning span against Scott Terry and Lee Smith, than went into full Bad News Bears mode in the 10th. The Mets managed three hits and a walk, and only one batter made out, yet they did not score.

That's because Vince Coleman played the Carlos Beltran role, getting thrown out at the plate on a base hit, failing in his attempt to bowl over Cardinals catcher Tom Pagnozzi.

Once that happened, defeat was inevitable, and instead of an outfielder ducking a baseball, it was a first baseman ducking a bat. A John Franco wild pitch put a runner on third with one out for Milt Thompson. A broken-bat chopper followed, except that both ball and bat headed in the direction of Dave Magadan. The Mets first baseman, not the best defensively at the position, sidestepped both bat, and ball, watching the latter roll into right field for a game-ending single.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch had some fun with this one, quoting official scorer Jack Herman, who referred to the play as an act of God. Those same baseball gods seemed to reappear at Busch Stadium on Tuesday night.

The truly carded Mets fan knows...That Tuesday's loss dropped the Mets record against the Cardinals to 82-83 since 1991.

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