Lo Duca instantly stepped out of the batter's box and walked toward home plate umpire Marvin Hudson, barking at the umpire as Hudson took off his mask and shouted back at Lo Duca. After calming down for a brief moment, Lo Duca must have said a few more words to Hudson, because something pushed the home plate ump far enough over the edge to toss Lo Duca out of the game.
And he wasn't too thrilledLo Duca followed with a tirade that only he'd be able to throw, getting in the faces of Hudson and then crew chief Ed Montague while Willie Randolph, Jerry Manuel, and Howard Johnson all tried unsuccessfully to restrain him. While Lo Duca shouted and pointed in the faces of both umpires, his Brooklyn-born, no b.s. eyes seemed to be shooting poison darts. If looks could kill, Lo Duca would be wanted for murder right about now.
After giving up his argument with Hudson and Montague, Lo Duca left for the locker room, but not before throwing his batting helmet, bat, elbow protector, and catching equipment onto the field. As he stormed toward the clubhouse, Lo Duca departed to chants from the crowd of "Paul Lo-Du-ca...clap clap clap clap clap..."
Finally! During the Mets recent losing spell, this blogger and many others have been clamoring for the Mets to have someone - anyone - get into a fight, or throw some stuff, or just get angry enough to possibly kickstart the team out of their 4 for the month of June rut.
Kind of like what Shawn Green did to Brad Penny a couple weeks ago in LA...oh wait
Paul Lo Duca doesn't mess around
After giving up his argument with Hudson and Montague, Lo Duca left for the locker room, but not before throwing his batting helmet, bat, elbow protector, and catching equipment onto the field. As he stormed toward the clubhouse, Lo Duca departed to chants from the crowd of "Paul Lo-Du-ca...clap clap clap clap clap..."
Finally! During the Mets recent losing spell, this blogger and many others have been clamoring for the Mets to have someone - anyone - get into a fight, or throw some stuff, or just get angry enough to possibly kickstart the team out of their 4 for the month of June rut.
Kind of like what Shawn Green did to Brad Penny a couple weeks ago in LA...oh waitAnd while Lo Duca's meltdown wasn't the all-out brawl that I at least was waiting and hoping for, it reeked of a concerted effort on his part to be the sparkplug the Mets have seemingly lacked. The pitch wasn't even that low - he couldn't have been that irritated about a borderline strike call.
Of course, Lo Duca's theatrics would have accomplished nothing if the Mets had stayed true to June form and found a way to lose last night. Ironically enough, though, backup catcher Ramon Castro would go on to lead off the ninth with a double and score the game-winning run on another double by David Wright. A walkoff 1-0 victory.
This afternoon, the Mets scored more runs than they've scored in over 30 days (10) and beat the Athletics 10-2 to complete a three-game sweep over the A's. It was a dominating victory for the Mets where the team once again clicked on all cylinders.
The Mets first series win in 6 tries and first 3 game winning streak in nearly a month could have nothing to do with Paul Lo Duca's "offensive" (in Hudson's words) outburst, but that doesn't change the fact that the Mets fiery catcher and emotional leader seemed to see an opportunity to be the charge in the Mets dead June battery and took advantage of it, despite now facing a possible fine and suspension in return.
Or maybe Lo Duca really is just a crazy loose cannon who completely overreacted about a minor call, and independent of his actions the Mets were able to scratch out a victory last night and cruise to another one this afternoon. Who knows.
Either way, though, it looks a lot better for the orange and blue than it did on Friday. This week's 4-game series against St. Louis will go a long way towards determining whether the Mets have left the June swoon behind, or whether we fans should consider pulling a Lo Duca.
Let's take it to the defending champs this week...(again)
(photos courtesy Newsday, Getty Images, and the CW11)
Of course, Lo Duca's theatrics would have accomplished nothing if the Mets had stayed true to June form and found a way to lose last night. Ironically enough, though, backup catcher Ramon Castro would go on to lead off the ninth with a double and score the game-winning run on another double by David Wright. A walkoff 1-0 victory.
This afternoon, the Mets scored more runs than they've scored in over 30 days (10) and beat the Athletics 10-2 to complete a three-game sweep over the A's. It was a dominating victory for the Mets where the team once again clicked on all cylinders.
The Mets first series win in 6 tries and first 3 game winning streak in nearly a month could have nothing to do with Paul Lo Duca's "offensive" (in Hudson's words) outburst, but that doesn't change the fact that the Mets fiery catcher and emotional leader seemed to see an opportunity to be the charge in the Mets dead June battery and took advantage of it, despite now facing a possible fine and suspension in return.
Or maybe Lo Duca really is just a crazy loose cannon who completely overreacted about a minor call, and independent of his actions the Mets were able to scratch out a victory last night and cruise to another one this afternoon. Who knows.
Either way, though, it looks a lot better for the orange and blue than it did on Friday. This week's 4-game series against St. Louis will go a long way towards determining whether the Mets have left the June swoon behind, or whether we fans should consider pulling a Lo Duca.
Let's take it to the defending champs this week...(again)
(photos courtesy Newsday, Getty Images, and the CW11)
1 comment:
Yeah Lo Duca definetely overreacted..if that's the right word for his performance. He even had a strike left in the count before he had to start whining and crying like a baby. Maybe the umpire made fun of his mommy or something..
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