Sandy Alderson couldn't believe it, couldn't believe how the game could be so cruel. The rawness of the previous 24 hours hadn't subsided. Yet, here he stood, in Citi Field, on a miserable rainy afternoon in late July, seething at what flashed across the television screen.
Justin Upton had just hit a ninth-inning go-ahead homer for the Padres, sending the Mets careening toward a wrenching 8-7 defeat July 30. It had come on the heels of a debacle.
The night before, Alderson thought he had landed the final piece in a daring in-season reboot, trading for Brewers centerfielder Carlos Gomez.