UMDB goes public!

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I was surprised to learn that ultimatemets.com had gone public, and was selling for $3 a share. Then I poked around and saw that it was play money, in a "virtual market."

I should sign up and invest.

I don't know where they're getting their stats from regarding visitors and page hits; they're much lower than the site's internal logs show. It's kind of flattering, though, to know that it's in the top 1.1 million most visited sites on the Internet.

http://www.alexa.com/data/details/main?q=&url=ultimatemets.com

[A Boy Named Seo]

If I'm not mistaken, I think Alexa collects stats from interweb surfers who've installed their toolbar. I'm not sure what the internet user gets out of the deal, but I wouldn't want that thing running on my computer.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Is that how it works?

I wouldn't want it either. It would just be another layer of things that can mess up your PC.

That would explain why the numbers they're reporting are lower than the ones the site statistics have; they represent the subset of visitors who are running the Alexa plug-in.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Where'd you find the valuation?

[A Boy Named Seo]

Yeah, it looks like the user gets a "dynamic toolbar" that offers "safer and smarter surfing". And all you have to do in return is install an invasive piece of software on your computer that reports to Alexa "valuable information about the web, how it is used, what is important and what is not."

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Johnny Dickshot wrote: Where'd you find the valuation?

http://alexadex.com/ad/url/www.ultimatemets.com

[Guest Edgy DC]

Let's get the Billy Wynne page into the top million.

[G-Fafif]

Put me down for a hundred shares of necrology.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

By "going public" Newsday musta figured "public domain." Isn't that Beltran baseball card image lifted from your site? You should sue them if only to get in the news for a few days and pump that stock price (I'm in at $3 baby).

Forgot the link, but worth seeing also for the interesting bit on how Milledge's attitude problem has disappeared, and his diet improved, and his power increased. OK, sure!

http://blogs.trb.com/sports/baseball/mets/blog/

[A Boy Named Seo]

]"Everything�s clean," MIlledge said. "Everything�s fine. Everybody�s all right. I�m fine with everybody. Everything�s OK. I don�t have any problems with anybody."

So is everything okay or what?

I didn't know it was Wagner who hung the "Know your place, rook" sign.

[Guest Edgy DC]

]Even Billy Wagner, who hung a sign over Milledge's locker in DC that read, "Know Your Place Rook!"

Do I remember nothing? I mean, I realize if things happen at RFK, they don't really happen, but I think I'm brain-injured or something.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

="Johnny Dickshot"]By "going public" Newsday musta figured "public domain." Isn't that Beltran baseball card image lifted from your site? You should sue them if only to get in the news for a few days and pump that stock price (I'm in at $3 baby).

Yes, that is my Beltran graphic!

I'll choose to look at it as a sincere form of flattery. Suing would be fun, of course, but then I'd get sued by Topps and whoever owns that Beltran photo.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

="Yancy Street Gang"] Suing would be fun, of course, but then I'd get sued by Topps and whoever owns that Beltran photo.

That's not how the S&P 500 would do it. How disappointing!

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I guess I'm not ready to play with the big boys.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

The way I found that Alexa link, by the way, is by signing up for "Google Alerts" for references to "ultimatemets.com" and "Ultimate Mets Database." (You may want to do the same, Johnny, for MBTN if you haven't already.)

It gives a small sense of how the site is referenced, linked, and otherwise mentioned over the world wide web.

Today I was notified of this, some visitor memories of Tom Seaver lifted by, it seems, people representing Tom himself:

tomterrificseaver.com/media/index.htm

I think I've seen this site before. It seems to have the sanction of Mr. Seaver himself. There's a link where you can try to arrange a personal appearance. (It also includes his schedule, although it hasn't been updated since 2005.)

]Interested in booking �The Franchise� for a corporate event, motivational speaking, private engagement, golf tournament or new store opening? National sports broadcaster, Tom Seaver brings years of experience, confidence, and arrogance to a stage. Whether speaking about the mechanics of pitching or the importance of being a team player, you can be assured that your audience will leave with �best practices� that can be incorporated into their daily work activities or with memories that will be treasured forever. For an additional fee, Mr. Seaver will begrudgingly shake a limited number of hands and engage in a few minutes of small talk with you and your guests prior to his speech. After speaking, Mr. Seaver will make a quick exit, and will avoid eye contact with any and all who are present.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Who the hell decided to lay out that site horizontally?

If they're going to excerpt memory posts from your site, why not "TOM SEAVER... AND HIS MOUND"?

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: The way I found that Alexa link, by the way, is by signing up for "Google Alerts" for references to "ultimatemets.com" and "Ultimate Mets Database." (You may want to do the same, Johnny, for MBTN if you haven't already.) It gives a small sense of how the site is referenced, linked, and otherwise mentioned over the world wide web.

I don't want to know until I unveil the astonishing new version of mbtn.net, probably in a million years but jhopefully soon.

Tomorrow is that website's 8th birthday

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Edgy DC wrote: Who the hell decided to lay out that site horizontally?

I was thinking the same thing. Isn't that weird?

Edgy DC wrote: If they're going to excerpt memory posts from your site, why not "TOM SEAVER... AND HIS MOUND"?

That would have been very funny! I'd like to think that Tom himself read it and vetoed it.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Johnny Dickshot wrote: I don't want to know until I unveil the astonishing new version of mbtn.net, probably in a million years but jhopefully soon. Tomorrow is that website's 8th birthday

I'm intrigued by the promised astonishment.

And happy birthday!

I wish I knew when the UMDB's birthday was. Though since we've previously established that it preceded MBTN by a few weeks, I guess it's already turned 8.

[Guest Edgy DC]

What's with Joe Freakin' Moock getting all these hits?

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

It was his birthday.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Yeah, well my birthday was last week. How many clicks did I get?

[MFS62]

Noticed on a trivia thread on another site:
The question was (I paraphrase) "Who were the first PTBNLs involved in Mets trades?" (first player to go, first player to be acquired by the Mets)

]After the expansion draft in October 1961, the Mets looked to supplement their roster and the team that offered the most was the Milwaukee Braves because their attendence was down and their owner had other financial problems. The Mets quickly purchased a couple players from the Braves, but their first "trade" ever was with the Braves in late November and they received Frank Thomas and a PTBNL in exchange for cash and a PTBNL. And, of course, they relieved the Braves off the Thomas salary which was decent for the time. It is not clear how much the PTBNL were publicized at the time of the deal, but the trade was completed in May 1962 when the Mets were in Milwaukee for a series. It was announced that Gus Bell (a veteran outfielder the Mets had picked in the expansion draft from Cincy) was the PTBNL given up for thomas and prospect Rick Herrscher was the acquired from the Braves. Ultimate Mets Database does not show Herrscher as part of the thomas trade, but Baseball-Reference.com does show him as part of thetrade and I view them as the authoritative source. Herrscherr spent some time in the minors before being called up tot the Mets in August for his only MLB stint. He was a utility player like Rod Kanehl who could play any position but none of them extremely well. He hit .220 in 35 games and one home run. Who saw that home run? I did as a young kid attending my second Mets game ever and it was the first time I ever saw them win. He hit the homer less than 300 feet right down the line in the Polo Grounds in the first game of a doubleheader against the Reds. The game capped a three-game winning streak which the Mets only accomplished twice in their innaugural season.