Youth is sometimes looked down upon in sports. Many times a young player's rawness and sometimes carelessness is attributed to their young age, and nothing more. Sometimes youth however, is your closest friend. Jon Niese, a 23 year old pitcher for the Mets, pitched one hell of a complete game, and won the night cap by a score of 3-0. This, however, was no normal shutout. Aside from a double leading off the third by Adrian Brody, um, I mean Chris Denorfia, Neise saw 27 batters, and sat down 27 batters. This after the Mets last 22 batters were retired in the first game.
It was hardly an offensive day in the ball park, but Niese gave a performance to remember. The kid pitched his heart out. Jon struck out 6, but even his pitching line doesn't do his performance justice. He baffled the Padres, and made it look easy for nine innings. You can't help but feel good for the kid, and you can't help but be optimistic for the future performance of the team this year and beyond. The Mets have been around since 1962, and since then, have pitched 23 one hitters, however, have zero no hitters, let alone perfect games. The Mets have gone the longest drought without pitching a no-no in the history of the sport. To put it into perspective, the Marlins have been around only since 1993, and already have four no hitters.
That all being said, Niese pitched his heart out, and left this team feeling good as they pack their bags and head to Baltimore and then Cleveland, but let me tell you one thing. After pieing Niese with whipped cream today, and getting Ike a few nights ago, the Mets are running out of dairy products. Maybe they should stock up for the weekend.
Coming within the next day or two, I will be writing an article about the "new look" Mets, which will touch on the new feel of the Mets, along with touching on the youth movement again.
Photo Courtesy of newyork.mets.mlb.com
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