Wright's beaning not enough of a wake-up call

To say the New York Mets have been injury-prone this season is like saying Usain Bolt is fast. Words simply don't do the situation justice.

The latest injury to baseball's version of General Hospital was one of the scariest moments in the majors this year. Third baseman David Wright took a 94-mph fastball to the head and had to leave the game with a concussion. The ball hit squarely on the side of Wright's helmet, and he went down like he'd been shot and stayed down for several tense minutes.

The Giants won the game, 5-4, but the postgame buzz was all about Wright's beaning, which pitcher Matt Cain said was unintentional (and everyone seems to agree).

On the heels of a another scary beaning of Reds third baseman Scott Rolen, the players were asked about a newer, safer helmet that equipment manufacturer Rawlings plans to introduce in the coming year. And they were less than ecstatic.

"I could care less what they say -- I'm not wearing it," said Mets' outfielder Jeff Francoeur, the same player who helped a scared and disoriented Wright into the clubhouse after he was beaned.

You see, the new S100 helmet is supposed to protect the head from fastballs up to 100 mph. But it's apparently quite cumbersome and bulky. So without a second thought, players like Francoeur -- who just saw his teammate knocked out by a fastball -- would prefer to keep wearing a helmet that basically is a crap shoot on pitches above 70 mph.

Sounds good, Jeff. We'll just make sure all your at-bats come against Tim Wakefield.

Unfortunately, this is the exception rather than the rule. Players are simply more concerned with their appearance than with safety, primarily because they haven't seen any deadly consequences from wearing the old helmets. The last time a player died after he was beaned was Ray Chapman, who was hit with a Carl Mays fastball in 1920.

That tragedy led to two things. First, it was the death knell for the spitball, the pitch Mays threw. The official spitball was thrown in 1934. It also led to the batting helmet, which before then had never occurred to the players.

Hopefully, it won't take another tragedy for today's players to come to their senses.

Pyrrhic victories

Sometimes W's can feel like L's.

The Yankees and Mets both won their games Tuesday, with the Bombers pulling out a 4-3, 11-inning win on a Robinson Cano single. But after the game, both teams found themselves talking about injuries instead of the victory.

The Mets received their bad, in-game news by courier. First baseman Carlos Delgado, sidelined since May 19 with a torn labrum, was forced to stop his rehab because of a strained oblique muscle. Delgado's contract expires at the end of the season, so the veteran may have been his last game as a Met.

The major postgame headlines reflected the mixed feelings about Tuesday night. "Mets beat Diamondbacks to avert sweep, get bad news on Carlos Delgado," blared the Daily News.

The Yankees, meanwhile, fell victim to the inside fastball. Shortstop Derek Jeter had to leave the game after getting hit on the foot, and though X-rays were negative, the Yankee captain admitted to feeling this HBP a little extra. The winning rally in the 11th inning was kickstarted when Alex Rodriguez got nailed on the elbow and hit the dirt for a couple minutes.

Once again, the injuries were the focus. The New York Times' game story led with the litany of Yankee bumps and bruises, overshadowing the fact that since June 24 the Yanks are a sizzling 33-11 and have the best record in baseball at 71-43.

Thing is, the press isn't that far off. Delgado's injury may well end his season after playing just 26 games. For that matter, you can probably sum up the Mets' season in one word: injuries. And without Jeter, their captain and best hitter, the Yankees will score fewer runs. 'Nuff said.

So enjoy the pair of wins. But when you do, cross your fingers for Jeter's foot. And, just maybe, wave goodbye to Carlos Delgado.

Spreading the news,
Jake Simpson

A Good Day in New York

Bleacher Creatures, Spike Lee wannabees, Firemen Eds, and every other fan in love with New York sports... I give you The Back Page.

On this page, I will wax (kind of) eloquent about all sports New York. Yanks, Mets, Knicks, Jaspers -- PSAL baseball, I don't care. If it's sports-related, interesting, and about New York, it's fair game. So for all you CCNY fans wanting to relive the 1950 NIT-NCAA double or Bassy Telfair diehards who don't care how hard it's been for him because he's still got it, this is the place for you.

Let's kick things off with a look back at a sensational 24 hours for the New York Yankees.
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For about an hour on Saturday afternoon, a crowd of 48,796 at Yankee Stadium had a chance to witness Part 2 of one of the best two-day periods in the history of New York sports. Instead, it turned out to be a cut below.

Allow me to explain.

On Friday, the Yanks won a 5-hour, 33-minute, 15-inning Instant Classics where the only runs came on the game's final swing. Not only did A.J. Burnett and the Yankee bullpen completely shut down the Red Sox offense, but A-Rod -- A-Rod -- was the hero, blasting a line drive over the left-center field wall for a 2-0 win.

Saturday's pitching matchup seemed to favor the Bombers -- C.C. Sabathia against the mercurial Clay Buchholz -- but how could it possibly be as good as Friday's thriller?

Answer: A no-hitter.

Or at least that's what it looked like for a while. C.C. was mowing down the Boston lineup, topping out in the high 90s with pinpoint accuracy. For a couple innings, it looked like it just might happen. But Jacoby Ellsbury laced a two-out single up the middle in the sixth, and it became just another Yankee-Red Sox game.

The whole thing got me thinking about other great 1-2 punches in New York sports history that occurred on consecutive days. For me, nothing could match Games 4 and 5 of the 2001 World Series, when the Yanks hit two-out, two-run homers in the bottom of the ninth off Byung-Hyun Kim to tie the score two games in a row.

I was at Game 4, and it remains the best sporting event I've ever seen live. When Tino Martinez took Kim deep to tie the game, the upper deck literally shook because people were going so crazy. When Scott Brosius did the exact same thing one day later, I raced around my apartment emitting a cackling sound reminiscent of Gollum from Lord of the Rings.

Other great ones I remember include Games 6-7 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals (Matteau! Matteau! Matteau!) and Games 4-5 of the 1996 World Series. (The flip side is led by Games 6-7 of the 2004 ALCS, and everything else is a distant second).

But I know this is an incomplete list, and I haven't been alive that long. So weigh in. Throw a couple suggestions out there yourself, or tell me how full of crap I am for missing one example or another.

That's how it's gonna be, folks. I write, you respond. And we're just getting started.

Spreading the news,
Jake Simpson