Met-Lovin' Big Shots

[patchyfogg]

Have we ever counted the "celebs" (and I use the term loosely) herein?

http://www.promocast.com:8080/ramgen/mets/mets.rm

[Guest Edgy DC]

Jon Stewart, come on down.

[Guest Giant Squidlike Creature]

Old picture, but that's Princess Beatrice of York in a Sox cap and Princess Eugenie of York in a Mets cap.

[Gwreck]

Jim Breuer threw out the first pitch on Wednesday. Apparently he's a "long-time" Mets fan.

[metirish]

That fella always looks stoned...he's from Valley Stream NY.

[Willets Point]

Bump. Celebs must be jumping on the Mets bandwagon now.

[metirish]

Yeah next thing you'll be seeing Billy fucking Crystal at Shea.......

[Centerfield]

Did anyone hear Crystal interviewed at the Clips game? He was talking about how it's fun to root for an underdog. Are we just supposed to pretend he's not an MFY fan?

[seawolf17]

If he was a "real fan," his hair would have fallen out during the shooting of this movie.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

In People Magazine I saw a photo of Hilary Swank jogging while wearing a Mets cap.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

metirish wrote: Yeah next thing you'll be seeing Billy fucking Crystal at Shea.......

He was at Shea during the 1986 World Series. He was talking and sounding like a Mets fan back then.

[Guest Edgy DC]

We need to make a gallery.

I'm not sure why, though.

[soupcan]

MORE Julia Stiles...

[Guest Edgy DC]

Different shot. Kewl.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Richard Daub, contributor to The Subway Chronicles, Met fan.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Julia stylin' in blue cap as she throws out the first pitch May 29th:

Looks like a circle-change grip...



But she lets fly a two-seamer...

[Centerfield]

Everyone with an effective change knows you go in with the changeup grip because it's easier to switch to a fastball then from a fastball to a change.

Duh.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I think the nail polish will only help the batter pick up the grip.

Sheesh, if Julia knows that there's no substitute for the blue hat, how come the Mets don't.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Is there a bigger shot than 50 Cent?

[Elster88]

I don't follow it much anymore, but I think 50 Cent's popularity is low these days. Maybe if he gets shot it'll help his street cred.

[Elster88]

Gotta be careful these days. It's going to be hard to differentiate between a Met-Lovin Big Shot and a Bandwagoning Big Shot. Didn't 50 Cent wear Red Yankee hats back in the day?

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

During the Mets-Yankees series at Shea, the FOX Sports telecast showed us Brian Cashman sitting in his box at Shea. While the camera was on Cashman, Joe Gannascoli sat down in a seat a row or two in front of Cashman. His Sopranos character, the late Vito Spatafore, was an obnoxious Yankee fan. But, on this day at least, the actor who played Vito was wearing a Mets cap. (One of the all-black variety.)

[Elster88]

He calls Joe Beningo now and then. Seems like a real Met fan.

Edit: I take this back. I'm pretty sure what I wrote is wrong.

[G-Fafif]

Joe Gannascoli is a fan of exposure. He showed up in the booth the last game in Philadelphia and, when cornered by Howie Rose, admitted he roots for the Mets when they're not playing the Yankees. After Burrell closed the gap to 4-2, I sensed a Vito-glomming-off-the-Mets jinx in effect. GET HIM OUT OF THE BOOTH!

I missed his appearance, but apparently Jon Stewart was representing big-time Sunday afternoon. Now that's a big shot who's truly Met-lovin'.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Talking with Joe Nathan.

Joe Nathan talks
BY BOB SANSEVERE
Pioneer Press
If I had a time machine, I'd want to go to the beginning of humanity to see how everything started.

Naive people make me angry. I'm talking about any subject. If they don't know something about something, they shouldn't talk about it. They shouldn't fake their way through it. That's what questions are for.

My teammates probably would be surprised to know I'm really smart. It takes a genius to act so dumb.

I don't make closing as big a deal as it is. I try to make it as simple as I can. Make it what it is: Get the final three outs.

I'm not worried about getting three strikeouts. Just get them out. Preserve a win.

My son, Cole, makes me laugh. He's coming up on 21 months. Every day, it's something new with him. He's dancing now. I don't know where he picked it up, but he has learned how to dance. Every time a song comes on, he's got a new move. My family keeps me laughing. My family keeps me grounded.

My favorite cartoon growing up was the Roadrunner. You would always see the Coyote draw up plans and always fail.

If I found Aladdin's Lamp, I'd wish for happiness, never worrying about money and never running out of wishes.

The New York Mets were my favorite team when I was a kid. I was 12 when they won their last World Series. I remember sitting down watching it with a buddy. It was a big weekend. I remember we smashed a car with a pipe to raise money for some charity.

If I could have superhero powers, I'd definitely want to be able to fly. That would be pretty cool. I'd also want to go underwater like Aquaman. And I'd like to have X-ray vision and superhuman strength.

I'm good with numbers.

I don't know if I'd be a good accountant, but if I wasn't playing baseball, I'd like to be involved in sports. Maybe sports management. I have a business management degree.

I was 10 or 11, there was a group of us, and probably the meanest thing we ever did was to this one kid who was kind of easy to tease. We pretended we were wrecking his bike, but we weren't. We made it look like we were. We got in trouble for that.

I was a shortstop as a kid, so I always followed Cal Ripken. He was one of my favorite athletes growing up. I wanted to be a shortstop.

I pitched in Little League, but I didn't pitch in high school or college. I was made a pitcher in the minors. It definitely wasn't my favorite option.

I was told in 1995 I was going to become a pitcher. I took 1996 off and went back to school to get my degree. It was nice to get that done and clear my head. I didn't know if I wanted to pitch. I knew I had a good arm from short, but it was still going to be a crapshoot whether I was going to be good or not.

Closing wasn't something I thought about doing. It was just an opportunity I got when I came over to the Twins.

Everyone has their own unique thing. Personalities are different. Styles of pitching are different. I think every pitcher has the same goal: Strike one, and work ahead in the count. It doesn't matter if you're a starter, closer or middle relief, you have the same strategy to get ahead of hitters. I think everyone gets to strike one in different ways.

I'm in the dugout for the first three innings. I'm in the clubhouse for the next two innings, and I head down to the bullpen to get ready in the middle of the sixth inning. No matter what the score is.

Most people think baseball is such an easy lifestyle. It's more blue-collar, and baseball players lead a simple life. We're not too complicated. People think our lives are so different than theirs. I don't think our lives are that different. Our lives are pretty similar to a 9-to-5 schedule. When most people get home from work, they have a few hours before they go to sleep. By the time we get home from work, everybody is asleep. We have our free time in the morning when we get up.

My most prized possession? I wish I could say a championship ring, but I can't say that yet.

My favorite author is Harlan Coben. He writes murder mysteries. He has a ton of books. Mainly I've read his series on Myron Bolitar, who's a sports agent.

My favorite movie is "Forrest Gump." I like how it has a little bit of everything, and it's funny how they tie the movie to real events that have happened in our history.

I don't do a Forrest Gump imitation. I'll leave that to Tom Hanks.

My favorite video game? There's always a new one out, but Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 is one I like.

My wife is Italian. She does most of the cooking. I can make a mean pasta and maybe a PB&J sandwich. I'm a griller. Anything we need to cook on the grill, I can do a pretty good job of that.

I don't know that I have a favorite expression, but I say, "Believe it" a lot.

My wife and I are both from the Northeast. She's from Jersey. I'm from New York. We met in Arizona at a restaurant. We were hanging out before we sat down. I was with some people. She was with a group of her friends. We met and started talking. I put her through five years before we got married. It was more finding out if she could handle the lifestyle. I was in the minors at the time. She didn't know much about baseball, which was a plus. When I saw the type of family person she was and that she could handle the lifestyle, I knew she was the one.

I'm a big golfer. I have a 10 handicap. That's not too bad for how much I get to play.

I'm moving to Tennessee. We're building a house in Knoxville. My wife has family there. And it's a closer location to everything. It's closer to the Northeast than Arizona. It's closer to Florida for spring training.

I was born in Texas. I've always liked the South.

I listen to it all. You name it. The range goes from Metallica to Sinatra to Red Hot Chili Peppers to Coldplay.

I can't sing. Simon Cowell would tell me to stick to my day or night job.

I'm really big into "24." That's probably the first TV show I'd TiVo. I love "House." Plus, I'm into "The Contender." My wife's cousin's husband is a boxing manager. I've become a huge boxing fan.

Before I started growing my hair longer, people said I looked like Ben Affleck. So if a movie was made about my life, he should probably play me. They also could go with Vince Vaughn. And I've been told I look like that guy (Matthew Lillard) who played Shaggy in the "Scooby Doo" movies. I have been called Shaggy.

The best advice I ever got was: Never be satisfied. Always want more, always want to learn more and get better. No matter how much success you have, there's always a way to improve.

I want my epitaph to say, "Here lies Joe Nathan, who was a good husband and good father."

Bob Sansevere can be reached at bsansevere@pioneerpress.com.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

]I remember we smashed a car with a pipe to raise money for some charity.

How exactly does that work?

[seawolf17]

="Edgy DC"]Naive people make me angry. I'm talking about any subject. If they don't know something about something, they shouldn't talk about it. They shouldn't fake their way through it. That's what questions are for. My teammates probably would be surprised to know I'm really smart. It takes a genius to act so dumb. I don't know if I'd be a good accountant, but if I wasn't playing baseball, I'd like to be involved in sports. Maybe sports management. I have a business management degree. I was told in 1995 I was going to become a pitcher. I took 1996 off and went back to school to get my degree. It was nice to get that done and clear my head. I didn't know if I wanted to pitch. I knew I had a good arm from short, but it was still going to be a crapshoot whether I was going to be good or not.

YEAH Stony Brook.

[Guest holychicken]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: ]I remember we smashed a car with a pipe to raise money for some charity. How exactly does that work?

We used to have that every year at our HS homecoming event.

They would get a free car from a junkyard and you would buy 3 swings with a sledgehammer on it. Of course, being the first to go was the best and you paid more fo that because you got to smash out the headlights.

One year, because of rain, they cancelled it but the car sat in the parking lot for the next few days. We took it upon ourselves to help it fulfill it's fate. The most fun thing I ever got suspended for.

[metirish]

Glen Close

[stevejrogers]

I wonder why Glenn was wearing a 1994 uni and not a retro 86 one?

Only thing I can figure is that she wanted the 69 team to have some measure of reconigtion

Hmmm...