I feared mentioning this before last night's game because it didn't work out so well in Game 2, but I brought Endy shirt out of retirement for Game 4 and, after a day off, he really seemed to pull it together. He had been a thoroughbred for six straight games, winning the last two games of the regular season against the Nationals and sweeping the Dodgers out of the LDS altogether. His youthful exuberance carried into the LCS as the Mets took Game 1 behind the arm of Tom Glavine. Midway through Game 2 it felt like Endy shirt could Do no wrong, but then it all came crashing down. On Endy shirt.
The Mets' bullpen was unable to hold things together in the late innings and Endy shirt became the scapegoat for an angry, drug-crazed and confused Mets nation. Afer that stunning and demoralizing loss, Endy shirt became camisa non grata around these parts, having been tossed into the laundry pile like so many other pieces of clothing that had worn out their ability to guarantee victory for one sports team or another. Endy shirt sat there in the laundry basket, made to think about what it had done. It sat there grudgingly as the Mets embarassed themselves in Game 3, managing just a smattering of hits off of the inimitable Jeff Suppan.
It watched as Steve Trachsel tried valiantly to flush the Mets' playoff hopes completely down the toilet. It cheered with great gusto as Darren Oliver gave the Mets' bullpen a night off in an otherwise forgettable night. Endy shirt bided its time, knowing my wife had zero intentions of doing any laundry this weekend.
As Sunday afternoon turned into early evening and the baseball hour approached, Endy shirt knew that the time for retribution was at hand. After all he had done for this team, he wasn't going to let the heartbreak of a single loss affect his lifelong dream of being worn during a Mets World Series championship. "One game is too small a sample size", Endy shirt was overheard mumbling.
Endy shirt is a wise old soul. It was then I realized that one night of solitary confinement to the hamper was all any decent, absurdly magical shirt could handle. And with that, Endy shirt was out of the doghouse and back on my back, leading the Mets' inexorable march to another postseason victory. Endy shirt is off of the schnide and back in the game, and we're all better off as a result.