Ex-Mets in Lesser Threads

[G-Fafif]

d'Ispatch from d'Atlanta…

If hitting a home run in the World Series is the stuff kids dream of growing up, then Travis d'Arnaud's Friday was doubly good. Not only did he wallop his second home run of this Series at a key moment in the eighth inning of Game 3, but his day had started with a family trip for doughnuts. “We got 15 doughnuts,” d'Arnaud said after his 437-foot homer produced the final run to ice Atlanta's 2-0 win. “We got a bunch of chocolate bars, chocolate twists, cinnamon twists, cinnamon rolls, apple fritter, a lot of doughnut holes. “Yeah, it was good, too.” At 32 and playing in his second World Series, d'Arnaud is in the sweet spot of his career, playing with a team he loves. Now with his fourth organization in nine years, he signed a two-year, $16 million extension in August that likely will keep him in Atlanta through 2024. He's caught three shutouts this postseason — two against Milwaukee in a division series and Friday's game that looked like it could be a no-hitter until pinch-hitter Aledmys Diaz dumped a base hit onto the outfield grass to start the eighth. Offensively, he is hitting .417 (5 for 12) in this World Series. An unexpected key has been using teammate Joc Pederson's bat. After hitting .167 against the Brewers in the division series and .211 against the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, he started using Pederson's bat in the World Series and things turned around.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/30/sports/baseball/travis-darnaud-atlanta-world-series.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/30/sports/baseball/travis-darnaud-atlanta-world-series.html

[G-Fafif]

Tsuyoshi Shinjo is the new manager/Big Boss of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.

Tsuyoshi Shinjo has always been a performer. And the former outfielder lived up to that reputation on Thursday, November 4 when he was introduced as the new manager of the Pacific League's Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. Wearing a maroon suit, sunglasses and an unbuttoned white shirt with an outrageously high white collar, Shinjo made it clear from the outset that he intends to inject some new life not only into the Fighters but also into Japanese baseball as a whole. “Don't call me manager, I want to be known as ‘Big Boss,'” Shinjo told a packed press conference in Sapporo, explaining that is what he was called on the Indonesian island of Bali where he spent the last several years. The surprises didn't stop there. After making an entrance that was more reminiscent of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, Shinjo laid out his plans for the struggling club. “I won't aim for a championship from the outset,” Shinjo said. “If the expectations are too high, the players will be overwhelmed. We'll practice day by day at first and build on our experience. Then around September if all goes well, we can say we are going for the championship.” Before Thursday's press conference, Shinjo visited the Fighters new stadium that will open in 2023 and said it's a venue that will “surprise the world.”

https://featured.japan-forward.com/sportslook/showtime-in-hokkaido-tsuyoshi-shinjo-aims-to-breathe-new-life-into-the-fighters/https://featured.japan-forward.com/sportslook/showtime-in-hokkaido-tsuyoshi-shinjo-aims-to-breathe-new-life-into-the-fighters/

[G-Fafif]

[Benjamin Grimm]

When they're not playing baseball, they're out fighting ham.

[Edgy MD]

Well, that's one more potential Mets manager off the market.

[Willets Point]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: When they're not playing baseball, they're out fighting ham.

The eternal question: do they fight against ham or do they fight for ham's benefit?

[Benjamin Grimm]

I've always interpreted is as them being in opposition to ham.



But when I picture a theoretical team logo for them, I picture an anthropomorphic ham wearing boxing gloves.

[G-Fafif]

They are the Fighters.

Nippon Ham is the sponsor.

And Shinjo is Big Boss.

[Frayed Knot]

https://twitter.com/dorapeinet/status/1456130304054214656

When David Ruffin comes out of the grave to declare Shinjo's suit to be a bit over the top for him, you have to question the choice.

Joe Torre, meanwhile, enjoys having his fashion choices from the '70s suddenly looking sedate by comparison.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I thought that was Ellen deGeneres.

[Frayed Knot]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I thought that was Ellen deGeneres.

I was thinking k. d. lang

[Lefty Specialist]

Gotta hand it to Shinjo, he's a character. It's like he saw the title to this thread and said, 'Hold my Asahi'.

[G-Fafif]

[seawolf17]

Shinjo is absolutely a top-five all-time Met favorite of mine.

[Willets Point]

He's on my Sentimental Favorites All-Star Team

[Edgy MD]

If you haven't yet read that press conference transcription, I encourage you to treat yourself.

[Fman99]

Nothing lesser about those threads. He looks like Doctor Detroit up there.

[G-Fafif]

Adeiny Hechavarria is the Big Boss of bat flips for the Chiba Lotte Marines.

[G-Fafif]

[Edgy MD]

Man, what tough gig it must be skippering the Diamondbacks.

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

Luis Rojas headed across town to the least of the lesser threads to coach third base.

[MFS62]

=Marshmallowmilkshake post_id=81079 time=1637014787 user_id=119]
Luis Rojas headed across town to the least of the lesser threads to coach third base.

[G-Fafif]

1987 Met Al Pedrique will be the 2022 Miami Marlins' third base coach.

[Edgy MD]

Well, that's one more off my 2022 manager list.



Go get 'em Al!

[G-Fafif]

[Fman99]

He's really good now. At being terrible, I mean.

[G-Fafif]

One of the longer post-Met careers relative to the brevity of his Met career.

[G-Fafif]

Dice-K greeted by a special guest at his retirement ceremony in Japan.



https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/12/cbf56e0f6348-baseball-ichiro-surprise-guest-for-matsuzaka-retirement-ceremony.htmlhttps://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/12/cbf56e0f6348-baseball-ichiro-surprise-guest-for-matsuzaka-retirement-ceremony.html