I’m still busy with actual work, and I haven’t figured out exactly how I want to handle games and recaps on TedQuarters, so for now, another stream of consciousness.
I’m struggling to find the origins of the expression “barnburner” to refer to a high-scoring sporting event. The Internet isn’t much help, though the Wikipedia tells me a barnburner is a member of the radical faction of the New York state Democratic party in the 19th century.
Near as I can tell, the expression comes from the way a barn actually burns. What with all the hay and wood, those suckers really go up in flames once they catch.
That’s what happened here. This was a barnburner.The Mets beat the Cardinals, 17-11.
The wind was blowing out hard to right. David Wright and Gary Matthews Jr. hit homers that way that probably would have been contained in normal conditions in Citi. Shawn Bowman hit a double off the top of the wall in left that probably would’ve been a home run just about anywhere else.
The big shot came from Ike Davis, a grand slam in the top of the ninth. It went out to right field and the wind made it look ridiculous, but he crushed it nonetheless.
It’s worth noting, though, that the guy he Davis it off was Francisco Samuel, who had a 5.66 ERA in Double-A last year. Of course, it’s also worth noting that Samuel’s only real bugaboo has been the walk, and he’s yielded merely seven home runs in 162 Minor League innings.
Davis did make an error in the field on a hard-hit grounder right at him. Daniel Murphy made a slick play moving to his right.
I have to get a better, longer look at his face to judge, but I think Kirk Nieuwenhuis may look like a little like a younger, bigger version of Toby Hyde. Captain Kirk had an impressive at-bat off knuckleballer Charlie Zink, fouling off a slew of pitches with a 2-2 count before lining a single to center. He walked on four pitches in his second time up.
The Cardinals have a catcher named Matt Pagnozzi, Tom Pagnozzi’s nephew. The Cardinals should always have a catcher named Pagnozzi. I was in a band named “Pagnozzi” once, but on the way to our only gig we changed our name to “The Lewis Effect” for reasons I’m still not clear on.
R.A. Dickey’s knuckleball moves a lot faster than Zink’s, and a lot faster than most knuckleballs I’ve ever seen.
Sean Green is apparently still adjusting to the newer, lower arm slot.
Clint Everts’ breaking stuff moves a whole lot, but he didn’t appear to have a ton of control over it today.
Tedquarters 
This was possibly the first post on the Mets that made me laugh out loud, showing how great your blog is, Ted.
But lets see Toby Hyde make it with a green alien. Actually, I don’t think I want to see that.
And Sean Green is apparently still… Sean Green.
Since barnstorming is a part of baseball’s history, perhaps the term “barnburner” stems from that.
I certainly hope so. Perhaps after traveling all-star teams finished embarassing the locals in typically high-scoring contests, they set their barns on fire, just to rub it in.
I’m a huge Nieuwenhuis fan and he’s looked impressive as well. I think he could leapfrog FMart. He has all the makings of one of those guys from nowhere who makes a long name for himself in the majors. His trajectory seems to mimic that of David Wright’s. Came out of nowhere to have a strong PSL A year then shot up to the majors. Kirk has the first part down and most think he will be in Buffalo this year after making it to Binghampton for a cup of coffee. We’ll see.
And Ike? How can you not gush over that kid? He has all the makings of a star. And finally the rest of baseball seems to be agreeing.
Realistically though the first few days of spring is worse for pitchers so expect we won’t have this much offense going forward or by st patties.
Well played, sir. Your blog is definitely at about my speed.
Now that you’ve discovered the Barnburners, you might want to get into the Hunkers and the Silver Greys.
Sean Green ….hmmm he’s got some stuff to sort out. He was missing by a lot on his pitches. I will not be thrilled to ever see him come out of the pen. I prefer to see him in a sitting position with a jacket on. Young guys all looked great today: bowman, davis, K-house, etc. Can we just call Kirk either K-House or Special K? I like that better than capt. Kirk.
I have to say, that I could not agree with you in 100%, but it’s just my opinion, which could be wrong.