Day One of BKM 2005 (Part 1 of 1, as it turns out)

The flight was fine, and Kevin met me at the gate, as he had taken the earlier flight, and though he was not paying, he got the aisle bulkhead seat. I was offered a middle seat in the back, but my right knee said no.

The bus from LaGuardia to Manhattan was $12 and left immediately after we got on. Twenty minutes later, we were at Grand Central Station, and we walked the eight or so blocks to the Affinia 50 hotel.

Peter, the brother with the smallest pecker, and Michael met us there, and we had lunch at some Irish bar named Doherty’s. There were a bunch of suits drinking and playing Golden Tee. We had lunch and noticed that they ban smoking in bars in New York. We decided that was a good idea.

By that time, we figured it was time to take the 6 train to Grand Central, and then on to the 7 west to Shea…only 17,count ‘em (we did) 17 stops.

It was Duffle Bag night, and we took advantage of that fact to hit the MBNA stands for a Mets blanket and t-shirt. Perfect for prizes at the 2006 GGO.

Cubs lost. Here’s the story:

NEW YORK -- Nomar Garciaparra was back at shortstop, and Kerry Wood and Scott Williamson were both healthy enough to pitch, but the trio couldn't help the Chicago Cubs get back on track.

Mike Cameron and Cliff Floyd each drove in two runs in an ugly six-run second inning to lift the New York Mets to a 9-5 victory Friday night over the Cubs, who have lost five of their last six games.

Garciaparra started at short, his first game since April 20, when he ruptured a tendon in his groin. He went 0-for-4, grounding out to pitcher Tom Glavine in the second, flying out to left in the fourth, grounding out to Glavine again in the sixth and grounding out to short in the eighth.

"From my standpoint, I would've rather had a better result, but I'm glad to be out there," Garciaparra said. "Now I know how I feel, and I'll try to help as best as I can."

Wood (right shoulder) on Friday was activated from the disabled list along with Williamson (right elbow). Wood started the sixth, his first relief appearance after 174 consecutive starts. He got Cliff Floyd to pop up, walked David Wright, then retired Mike Piazza and Chris Woodward. Williamson pitched the seventh, struck out two and gave up a single in his Cubs debut.

"Everything felt good, and I put up a zero, so that's not ever bad. I'll take it every time," Wood said.

He worked out of the stretch in his relief appearance. It's by design.

"The more I get out there, I'm probably going to be out there with men on base, and you make most of your important pitches out of the stretch," he said. "The more I can throw out of the stretch, the better it'll be."

Wood may have started the inning but he didn't start the game. It was weird. "It's different," he said. "Obviously, you're not starting the game, you're coming in in the middle. You still warm up, get loose and try to get guys out."

And if Cubs manager Dusty Baker needs him on Saturday?

"If the phone rings and they ask for me, I'll be ready," Wood said.

Derrek Lee belted his career-high 33rd home run with one out in the eighth and Aramis Ramirez led off the second with his 28th, both off Glavine (8-9), who picked up the win.

But there weren't any positives for the Cubs in the New York second. Cubs starter Rich Hill (0-1) walked Piazza and Woodward to start the inning, and Piazza scored on Miguel Cairo's single. Glavine reached on a fielder's choice as second baseman Todd Walker threw home trying to get Woodward, but the throw was off the mark and the run scored.

Jose Reyes was safe on an infield single hit at Garciaparra, who turned to throw to third, but Ramirez signaled for the shortstop to throw somewhere else, and Reyes was safe.

Cameron followed with a two-run single and, one out later, Floyd drove in a pair with a single to make it 7-1.

"I was going to throw to third," Garciaparra said of Reyes' hit. "Ramy, he pointed. He was playing in, in case they bunted, and I had to make an adjustment. I knew I couldn't go to second, and I took a shot over there. It was one of those balls in no-man's land. I took a shot at first."

Baker was upset at the sloppy defense.

"You're not going to get Reyes on that ball," Baker said. "That's judgement. You don't have a whole lot of time to make up your mind."

"It was a bad inning," Baker said. "It started bad and ended up worse."

"You have those innings," Garciaparra said.

Hill was pulled, giving up seven runs on seven hits and two walks over 1 1/3 innings, his shortest start. The rookie lefty struck out one.