A bizarre week in the N.L. East continues to get stranger. First came the news that the Florida Marlins had signed former Mets closer Armando Benitez to a minor league contract. A few days later, the Mets and Marlins played a three-game series in Puerto Rico amid a carnival-like atmosphere that included vuvuzelas, constant loud music, and a seventh-inning stretch where cans of beer were thrown into the crowd (à la the t-shirt launch, only more ridiculous). After a long rain delay in Wednesday night's game, the woozy Mets boarded a flight to Washington, D.C., which touched down in the District as many inside the beltway were heading off to work. Predictably, the Mets sleepwalked through last night's game, managing just one run and wasting a gem from Johan Santana. (The Mets have only averaged 2.41 runs in games pitched by their ace this season.)
Adding another wrinkle to the absurdity, David Wright and Placido Polanco are somehow neck and neck in the All Star voting for the N.L.'s starting third baseman. The final ballots were cast last night, with the results to be announced on Sunday. And yes, Wright trailed Polanco in the latest tallies despite recording more RBIs in the month of June than Polanco has all year.
The latest weird twist in the division is the return of 'El Duque' Orlando Hernandez. The Washington Nationals have reportedly signed the 44-year old to a minor league deal tonight to join the same organization as his half-brother, Livan. Hernandez last pitched in the majors way back in 2007 with the Mets. Moments later, New York, not to be outdone, announced that they had come to terms with Brian Bruney, assigning the righthander to AAA Buffalo. This is the same reliever who, while with the Yankees last season, came very close to getting into a brawl with Mets' closer Francisco Rodriguez just last year after Bruney labeled K-Rod's post-game celebratory antics "a tired act" and "embarrassing."
Old adversaries united behind a common cause? Check. B-list 90s celebrities? Check. Several careers being extended far too long? Check. I could go on, but I already think we've got enough for a CBS daytime soap opera.
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