Rico Brogna, Good Fit --- Mets in Retirement, 2008

[Gwreck]

="HahnSolo"]While Kingman won�t make the final game at Shea later this month,

Not so fast. Adam Rubin of the Daily News says in his blog:

The Mets have been hush-hush about their plans for Sunday�s Shea Stadium sendoff, but add another name to the list of attendees: Willie Mays, who played with the Mets in 1972 and �73, will be on hand. Other known attendees include Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza, Dave Kingman and the SNY crew.

Surfing the Mets has been told the ceremony will be after the regular-season finale and tame relative to the sendoff to Yankee Stadium last night in the Bronx. It�s believed a torch may go from Shea Stadium to Citi Field.

[stevejrogers]

="Adam Rubin":2soo7ohx]It�s believed a torch may go from Shea Stadium to Citi Field.[/quote:2soo7ohx] And how will that be tamer and less cheezy than bringing out team and/or stadium employees as "ghosts" of long dead players and managers?

metirish Sep 23 2008 09:54 AM

A torch like the Olympic torch?....will there be protesters ?

SteveJRogers Sep 23 2008 09:55 AM

Gotta love though how two writers for the Daily Snooze have mixed signals on Kingman's attendance this weekend! I mean I'm sure he must have had a change in heart (money, pressure, whatever it could have been) between the McCarron piece and the Rubin blog, but it is still funny.

SteveJRogers Sep 23 2008 09:55 AM

="metirish":17v811sj]A torch like the Olympic torch?....will there be protesters ?[/quote:17v811sj] Sure, the gang from Loge13.com and their buddies in the Iron Triangle! HahnSolo Sep 23 2008 10:47 AM ="SteveJRogers":nytpgns8] ="Adam Rubin":nytpgns8]It�s believed a torch may go from Shea Stadium to Citi Field.[/quote:nytpgns8] And how will that be tamer and less cheezy than bringing out team and/or stadium employees as "ghosts" of long dead players and managers?[/quote:nytpgns8] You're kidding, right? Benjamin Grimm Sep 23 2008 10:51 AM Wait... what? Did the Yankees really have the soda vending guy dressed up as the ghost of Lou Gehrig? And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? (I have to confess: I know nothing about how the Yankees celebrated the closing of their ballpark. I didn't watch and didn't read any of the accounts.) HahnSolo Sep 23 2008 10:53 AM Yes. And Yes. metirish Sep 23 2008 11:02 AM I read something about forcing 105 year old Julia Ruth Stevens (Babe's daughter) to throw out the first pitch , wanting everything to look wonderful Hank had her warm up in the bullpen before hand. soupcan Sep 23 2008 11:27 AM I've got questions. When the soda guy/ghost of Lou Gehrig was introduced, was the rain-like applause hard or soft? Also - when the ghost of Bill Dickey came out, was he able to catch Babe Ruth's non-blood relative's first pitch while still holding his tray of cotton candy? Benjamin Grimm Sep 23 2008 11:30 AM You're making it all sound so... so... cheesy! seawolf17 Sep 23 2008 12:51 PM ="soupcan":7nnlxn67]Also - when the ghost of Bill Dickey came out, was he able to catch Babe Ruth's non-blood relative's first pitch while still holding his tray of cotton candy?[/quote:7nnlxn67] No, but he did get docked pay for missing an hour's worth of selling time. Dude didn't make his quota for the day. SteveJRogers Sep 23 2008 02:53 PM ="Benjamin Grimm"] And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? Well an actual torch would be. Symbolic, like home plate, different story. soupcan Sep 23 2008 02:57 PM ="SteveJRogers"] ="Benjamin Grimm"] And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? Well an actual torch would be. Symbolic, like home plate, different story. Since when are you the arbiter of all things cheesy or non? A torch, while a bit odd I admit, is nowhere near as stupid as bringing out hot dog hawkers dressed as legendary ballplayers. AG/DC Sep 29 2008 09:23 AM Now and perhaps forever: the only Tracy in Mets History. LOCAL LEGENDS: Coeburn High School�s Tracy Stallard Published: September 28, 2008 BY TIM HAYES BRISTOL HERALD COURIER It�s both unfair and unfortunate that Tracy Stallard�s baseball career has come to be defined by one moment. He never lost a game while pitching at Coeburn High School and his exploits are the stuff of legend in Wise County. He put together a respectable seven-season career in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. Yet, despite all those accomplishments, Stallard is still remembered most for one moment. One pitch. One game. It occurred on the final day of the 1961 regular season at Yankee Stadium. Stallard was 23-years-old and in his second season in the big leagues with Boston. He appeared in 43 games that summer for the Red Sox, shuffling between the bullpen and the starting rotation. Boston manager Pinky Higgins decided to start the young right-hander in the final game of the season against a potent New York Yankees lineup. He was solid through three innings and started the fourth inning by striking out Tony Kubek. Then Roger Maris stepped into the batter�s box. Maris had tied Babe Ruth�s single-season home run record of 60, and this game represented his final chance to surpass a mark that had stood for 34 years. In the fourth, he blasted a Stallard pitch down the right-field line. The ball soared into the stands, Maris placed his name in the record book and Stallard forever became the answer to a trivia question. While Stallard and Maris will be eternally linked because of that pitch, there�s more to the Stallard story. Much more. The native son Carroll Dale was a standout athlete in high school during the mid-1950s. The Wise native was so good, in fact, that he went on to play football at Virginia Tech and eventually earned two Super Bowl titles as a wide receiver with the Green Bay Packers. But there was a pitcher at rival Coeburn that Dale and many others just couldn�t solve. �I know every time we played Coeburn, he would have 16 or 17 strikeouts and that was it,� Dale said. �I don�t think anybody was very competitive when he was pitching.� That pitcher was Stallard, and many players went down swinging at his fastball for four unbeaten years. His best season with the Blue Knights came as a senior, when he went 8-0 and tossed two no-hitters. Those numbers earned him a spot in the Virginia High School League Hall of Fame in 2005. His performance also attracted major-league scouts. He signed with the Red Sox in 1956, thus beginning his professional career. Stallard starred in the minor leagues and made his big league debut on Sept. 24, 1960, at Cleveland Stadium. In the ninth inning of Boston�s 11-7 loss to the Cleveland Indians, Stallard entered and worked a scoreless inning. He registered his first major-league strikeout during that outing, fanning Woodie Held for the second out. Back in Coeburn, it was a big deal. �It was a very proud town,� Coeburn resident Steve Hubbard Sr. recalled. Stallard also saw a familiar face when he arrived in Boston. Scott County native Dave Hillman was also a pitcher for Boston, and the duo gave the Red Sox the distinction of having two Southwest Virginia natives on the roster at the same time. �He was a great teammate,� Hillman said. �We had quite a few conversations in the bullpen and everywhere else in Boston about pitching � He could pitch, and he had good stuff.� The moment Stallard appeared in four games for Boston in 1960. The next year he compiled a 2-7 record and a 4.88 ERA and allowed 15 home runs, including the one on Oct. 1 that proved to be historically significant. But there are some things that many people forget or simply don�t know about his encounter with Maris. Maris� solo blast was the only run Stallard allowed in seven innings that day in Boston�s 1-0 loss. It was also the only hit Maris had in seven career at-bats against Stallard. Stallard also played five more seasons in the majors after that fateful day at Yankee Stadium. After pitching in just one game for the Red Sox in 1962, Stallard was traded to the New York Mets, along with Al Moran and Pumpsie Green, for Felix Mantilla. Stallard�s stats weren�t too impressive during those two seasons in New York � he went 6-17 with a 4.71 ERA in 1963 and 10-20 with a 3.79 ERA in 1964 � but keep in mind that the Mets lost a combined 220 games those two seasons, so he didn�t have much run support. For instance, in a August 4, 1964 game against the San Francisco Giants, Stallard allowed just one earned run in 10 1/3 innings. Yet, he settled for no decision, and the Mets eventually lost 4-3 in 14 innings. Earlier that season in a game at Shea Stadium, Stallard was again on the wrong side of history. He was the losing pitcher on June 21, when Philadelphia�s Jim Bunning tossed a perfect game against the Mets. Stallard would be on the move again in 1964 as he and Elio Chacon were dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Gordie Richardson and Johnny Lewis. Stallard had his best season in the summer of 1964, going 11-8 with a 3.38 ERA in 40 games (26 starts) for the Cardinals. He was in the same rotation as Bob Gibson, and his battery mates included Tim McCarver and Bob Uecker. One year later, Stallard went 1-5 with a 5.68 ERA for the Cardinals. It was his final season in the majors. His final tally was a 30-57 record with four saves and a 4.17 ERA in 183 major league games. He also fared well against some of the league�s greatest hitters. Willie Mays hit just .200 and struck out six times in 30 at-bats against the kid from Coeburn, while Harmon Killebrew, Mickey Mantle and Ernie Banks were also among his strikeout victims. These days The 71-year-old Stallard keeps a low profile these days. In fact, numerous attempts to reach him for this story were unsuccessful. He is still competitive, as evidenced by the fact he competes in several area golf tournaments. This summer, he won the super seniors division at a prestigious tournament at Lonesome Pine Country Club in Big Stone Gap. Maris� record was broken in 1998 and now ranks just seventh all-time on the single-season home run list. Still, Maris and Stallard will be forever linked in baseball history because of that one moment in 1961. thayes@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2570 John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 29 2008 09:30 AM Shame on Stallard for making Tim Hayes write that story without his contribution. I read where Stallard was quite the dashing young stud around the city. AG/DC Sep 29 2008 09:42 AM Decent job grinding it out anyhow by young Hayes. AG/DC Oct 06 2008 03:01 PM Rusty Tillman is: a former Mets outfielder claiming to be Jose Canseco's first source for steroids homeless and living in the woods Bridget Murphy of the The Florida Times Union joins the Rico Brogna Journalism All Star Team. From pro-baseball to homeless Hometown baseball hero Rusty Tillman lived a life many dream about. Now he calls a tent his home. By The Times-Union Story by BRIDGET MURPHY Photos by JON M. FLETCHER "It's not like they put a sign out there, 'This is where Rusty Tillman's ball landed.' " The ex-slugger is playing down his glory days from a bench in the away dugout at Fletcher High School. But Kerry Jerome "Rusty" Tillman is basking in not-so-secret pleasure as an old schoolmate is doing his best to resurrect one day in particular. JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Rusty Tillman holds his 2-year-old daughter Sarah during an afternoon visit. While circumstances have left Tillman homeless in Mayport, he tries to make it a habit to visit his daughter daily. It was a Senators home game, must have been 1977, Fletcher Athletic Director Joe Reynolds remembers. A slender 17-year-old in a white-and-purple uniform stepped up to the plate. Then with a crack of wood on stitched leather, Tillman ripped a moon shot. Fans at the Neptune Beach school swarmed the fence to watch the rocket rise up, up and over the outfield wall. Reynolds was coaching on the track and sent one of his runners after the baseball. He says no one has smashed one so far since. Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal.Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal.Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal. "I remember where I was when President Kennedy was killed," Reynolds says. "... I remember when he hit that baseball." The story means the world to Tillman, now 48. Now homeless. He is desperate to cling to the things that are good in his life. Even if he has to flash back 30 years to find them. Those were the days when Chuck Fisette, a lefty who threw 94-mph "smoke" for the Senators, said pitchers cringed when Tillman came up to bat. "You knew he was going to hit it out of the park. You just didn't know how far or in what direction," said the now-veteran Jacksonville corrections officer. By the time Tillman graduated, he'd turned down a Cincinnati Reds offer. But nobody knew how far Tillman would go. Or later, after his 1979 selection by the New York Mets and time on two other major league teams, how far he would fall. Or the kind of secrets he was keeping. Most people still don't know. Because while Reynolds and Tillman were reminiscing in the dugout that July morning, Reynolds had no idea that Tillman was living in a tent in the woods a few miles away. He had no idea that Tillman had been a visitor at Fisette's workplace in recent years, or that he was selling his blood plasma to buy his only luxuries: cell phone minutes, Copenhagen snuff and Sonic banana smoothies. JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Tillman in a 1977-78 Fletcher High School yearbook. Sometimes Tillman also splurged on bug spray. It saved his skin from the blood-suckers that left itchy reminders he had an address marked only by the tags surveyors left on trees. 'Tillman Country Club' Somebody's watchdogs tattle on Tillman as he sneaks through a hole in the fence behind Mayport apartments. But the intruder doesn't hesitate. He rolls his bicycle into knee-high weeds, away from manicured lawns, away from painted parking spots and dead-bolted doors, away from everything else there is for anybody to protect. When the animals sense it, the barking stops. At 6 feet tall and about 200 pounds, it's mostly the creatures that slither in the grass that worry Tillman in the woods. The muscles that served him in pro ball - a bulk strangely still there - won't help with a snakebite. He carries a flashlight at night to spot snakes and zips the opening of his gray tent to keep them out. A blue tarp on top of that tent was all the protection Tillman had during Tropical Storm Fay in August. He stayed put even after two trees crashed onto the tents of homeless friends who left. "Living out here, I have learned a lot," he says. "I never thought I'd be here. I guess once I get back, I'll learn to appreciate what I had." Tillman calls the maroon mountain bike that a pastor gave him - after a promise he wasn't on drugs - his "Escalade." He says he's been clean at least three months. Tillman parks the bike in front of the camp he calls "Tillman Country Club." His belongings include blankets, a radio and a battery-operated unit that delivers shock therapy to his sports-worn knees. He sleeps next to a saw blade and a kitchen knife for protection. Tillman also has a portable TV. He powers it with a car battery that needs a recharge every four days. He has nothing left from his baseball days. No player cards. No uniform caps. No money. Tillman is a man whose family wants to help - begs to help. He is a man with smarts, with guts, with pride - yes, plenty of that. It is the piston that drives him to believe that after his journey, as he says, "from the penthouse to the craphouse," he will get his life together without charity. He knows there is a prize waiting for him when he does. Her name is Sarah Tillman. She turned 2 last month. Nearly every evening, Tillman pedals from his camp to her mother's home in the posh Selva Marina section of Atlantic Beach. Then the father tucks the toddler into bed and slips back into the woods. "I'll probably die from worrying someday," Tillman says by his tent on the kind of summer afternoon that demands air conditioning and cool drinks. "I think what keeps me going now is seeing my daughter graduate from high school." If Tillman makes it to Sarah's elementary school days, he says there will be another reward too: a Major League Baseball pension of about $35,000 a year. Kate Weatherby, Sarah's mother and Tillman's ex-girlfriend, says there's nothing she can do to help him in the meantime. "He knows what he needs to do to get things in order. It's making the choice to do that," she says. But how does a hometown hero who rises to a champagne life skid to the streets? There were fast times and women, divorces and drugs, is how Tillman tells it. Then there were secrets about the drugs, some Tillman said never should have come out. Even after he bottomed out, Tillman said he never sold out his baseball family to make a buck. Instead, he accepted it as his short-lived fame slipped away with his modest fortune. Instead, he fumed as he watched ex-Oakland Athletics teammate Jose Canseco rake in attention and money with two books about baseball's steroids scandal. Tillman said four teammates, including Canseco, bought and used the steroids Tillman smuggled from Mexico when he played for the A's. It was 1986, a year after the Mets traded Tillman and he ended up in Oakland. Bringing the 'juice' Once his steroids confession starts spilling out, Tillman makes it clear he's not naming names like Canseco did. Tillman sees himself as a backup outfielder who knew how to take one for the team. "The code is whatever you do, you're on your own. I'm not going to take you down with me. I didn't get the time that these guys got. But I was one of the lucky ones who got to be around these guys. And I kept my mouth shut." Canseco didn't mention Tillman in his two books and didn't respond to interview requests through his attorney, Gregory Emerson. In his 2008 book Vindicated, Canseco describes getting his first steroids in 1984 from a weight-lifter friend from high school. "I was his first in major leagues," Tillman says. "... I'm the one who started bringing it from Mexico." Tillman said he got the steroids when he'd make extra money playing in a Mexican pro league in the off-season. He started using them after a torn rotator cuff sidelined him. He'd already suffered through a wrist injury, getting so many cortisone shots that his black skin turned white around the injection site. Tillman also had multiple knee surgeries. The steroids were cheap and easy to buy at Mexican pharmacies. And they got results. When Tillman took charter flights back to America, he said no one would check a pro ball player's bags. When his steroids supply ran low, someone he trusted crossed the border and brought him more. The person he named refused to do a Times-Union interview. "It wasn't that I was trying to make money on this," Tillman explains of the 30 to 40 boxes he said he sold for $400 or $500 each. "It was for the family." He took a shot a week, something to give him an edge so he was ready to come off the bench. "A lot of people think it's cheating, but if you don't go out there and perform, they're going to say you're a bum." In March 1987, the A's released Tillman after 11 months and 22 games. His best highlight came off a pitch from Hall of Fame lefty Steve Carlton that he hit out of the park in a game against the White Sox on Sept. 23, 1986. By 1988, Tillman was with the San Francisco Giants, when he hit his second and last home run in the majors. After that, he went back to the minors and was expecting another call-up after a hitting streak. But the call never came. While Tillman said no one ever caught him, accused him or arrested him for steroids, he suspects the game blackballed him for it. "Word might have gotten around that the real Juiceman was here," he said. In the 1990s, Tillman went back to Mexico, helping lead his team in Tabasco to a 1993 championship. In all, he had played 38 games in the majors, 11 seasons in the minors and about six seasons abroad. Tillman says he made maybe a half-million dollars in all and has no regrets about steroids or anything else. "There's a dark side of all of sports. What I done is what I done." Back to work In early August, Tillman got a job in the kitchen of a seafood place in Jacksonville Beach. After more than a year on the streets, there was joy in his voice as he prepared for his first shift. "We'll see how it goes," he said. "I mean, I'm blessed for what I got." JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Rusty Tillman at his campsite in the Mayport area with the portable television he powers off a car battery in his tent. Hugh Palmer, a social worker at the mission where the ex-athlete eats and showers, said Tillman doesn't talk about his past. He said Tillman has an unusual mix of humility and confidence that makes him stand out among his peers. "To see a homeless person that's kind of larger than life, that just goes back to homelessness can happen to anyone," Palmer said. Tillman has plenty of job experience outside of baseball. He's had a few jobs in food service, including cooking for the Jaguars at their downtown stadium last season. In the late 1990s, he worked as a heavy equipment operator in Jacksonville. At the time, he was married to his second wife, Alycia Tillman. The 34-year-old divorcee called her ex-husband, who also has two grown sons from prior relationships, a good provider who worked a second job at Krystal to make extra money. The two of them went to work renovating his grandmother's home on the block he grew up on in Atlantic Beach, after marrying in 1999. It was a few doors from the home where Tillman's late father, a Jacksonville Beach city mechanic, and late mother, a school custodian, raised him, his three brothers and his sister. But Alycia Tillman said her husband started indulging a drug addiction when the two moved back to his hometown. Tillman said he had his own reasons for their split. When a judge granted the uncontested divorce in 2003, a copy of the order he mailed to Tillman came back marked like this: "Tillman moved. Left no address. Unable to forward. Return to sender." In September, Alycia Tillman said she was shocked to hear that her ex was living in the woods. "If I'd known he was in that situation, he could have come to me. If it's not Kerry's way," she said, using Tillman's given name, "he just won't do it. If he can't get it, he doesn't feel he needs it." After a few weeks of restaurant night shifts this summer, Tillman decided he'd rather see Sarah. He was missing those nightly tuck-ins. But a lucky break was coming his way this time. A former Fletcher schoolmate with a plumbing company agreed to hire him. Tillman had been riding his bicycle past Brian Christy's business for months, promising to learn quickly if he took a chance on him. A month ago, Tillman got his call-up. "Rusty knows what having a lot of money in his pocket is about and he also knows what not having any is about," Christy said. "A guy like that, you're not going to beat him down. It's his decision if he's going to get back on top of his game." After work on Sept. 19, Tillman planned to meet Sarah and her mother at Fletcher High School. The three of them were going to dinner to celebrate the toddler's birthday. Before that, Fletcher baseball coach Kevin Brown spotted his former classmate on the diamond. He told Tillman he was thrilled to see him at school, that he should come back and teach the boys how to really hit. Then the coach found a couple of bats. For the first time in years, Tillman stepped onto the field and took a swing. "Oh man, this brings back memories for real," Tillman said. "Oh yeah, I could see myself hitting some. I'd miss a whole bunch. But I'd hit some." bridget.murphy@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4161. Video: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1156018486/bctid1836680060 AG/DC Oct 17 2008 06:29 AM John Stearns makes Hall of Fame at Colorado University, who could use some good pub. Frankly, I'm surprised it's taken this long, considering the proliferation and dubious standards of Halls of Fame, but this does shed some light on one of the most enduring number-related mysteries in Met history. According to this photo, John wore 12 as an All-America defensive back, which could explain half of the 1977 number swap with Lee Mazzilli. Stearns into CU Hall of Fame Posted by GEOFF MORROW, Of The Patriot-News October 16, 2008 Harrisburg Senators manager John Stearns in his college football pose at the University of Colorado. He'll be inducted into the CU Hall of Fame on Friday. Considered one of the most prolific two-sport stars in University of Colorado history, Harrisburg Senators manager John Stearns will be inducted into the Buffaloes' Hall of Fame today in Boulder. Stearns, 57, starred for the Colorado football and baseball teams in the early 1970s. A first-team all-conference selection as a senior safety, Stearns earned the nickname "Bad Dude" as one of the most feared hitters in team history. He still holds the Buffaloes' career record with 16 interceptions and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 1973 NFL draft. But football wasn't even his best game, and he never played a down in the NFL. Stearns earned All-American status in baseball in '73, leading the NCAA in home runs (15) that year. His career numbers at Colorado include a .366 batting average, 26 home runs, 101 RBIs and 48 stolen bases. A catcher, he Stearns was the No. 2 overall pick in the 1973 amateur draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He was traded to the New York Mets after the '74 season and became a four-time National League all-star. After retiring, he became a scout and coach and managed the Senators in 2006 and 2008. In other Senators news, pitching coach Rick Tomlin, who spent the past four years with the Senators, is not returning to the organization, a fact confirmed by Bobby Williams, the Nationals' director of player development. Senators president Kevin Kulp also announced that Dan Watson, the team's secondary radio broadcaster last year, completed his internship in September and is not returning. Kulp said the team will look to hire another media intern, probably in January. For more on Stearns' induction, see Friday's edition of The Patriot-News. John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 17 2008 07:13 AM nice G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:08 AM Steve Henderson coaching his way into the World Series. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy who couldn't have given at least one already long-suffering fan a better Saturday night 28 years ago. ]Henderson missed winning the NL's Rookie of the Year Award by one vote to Montreal's Andre Dawson in 1977 after hitting .297 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI in 350 at-bats. In 1979 he hit .306 and in 1980, his final season in Flushing, he hit .290. It was that year that he had his most memorable day as a Met, and perhaps his most memorable day in baseball -- until Sunday night. On June 14, Henderson picked up his girlfriend Pam at LaGuardia, proposed to her (she accepted and they are still married) and then took her to the ballpark, where he etched his name into Mets lore for something other than being trade bait. In what has come to be called "The Steve Henderson Game," the left fielder stroked a three-run home run to right that capped a five-run, ninth-inning rally, as the previously awful Mets stunned the Giants, 7-6, to move to within a game of .500 and within six games of the Expos in the NL East. "That was a great, great day," Henderson said with a smile. "I'll always remember that one. But these days are pretty good, too." AG/DC Oct 21 2008 10:10 AM I (1) don't remember the proposal angle, which is awesome, and (2) am surprised it's got an eponymous reputation outside of here. G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:12 AM It got a cameo in the Shea Goodbye DVD even. AG/DC Oct 21 2008 10:19 AM I feel like we coined something. G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:20 AM I've been calling it the Steve Henderson Game since probably no later than June 16, 1980. AG/DC Oct 21 2008 10:27 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 21 2008 12:06 PM I just checked the calendar. It turns out that it's Shoot Down AG/DC Day. It came up so fast this year. G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:41 AM I've been calling it that since probably no later than eleven o'clock this morning. metirish Oct 21 2008 10:56 AM ="G-Fafif"]Steve Henderson coaching his way into the World Series. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy who couldn't have given at least one already long-suffering fan a better Saturday night 28 years ago. ]Henderson missed winning the NL's Rookie of the Year Award by one vote to Montreal's Andre Dawson in 1977 after hitting .297 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI in 350 at-bats. In 1979 he hit .306 and in 1980, his final season in Flushing, he hit .290. It was that year that he had his most memorable day as a Met, and perhaps his most memorable day in baseball -- until Sunday night. On June 14, Henderson picked up his girlfriend Pam at LaGuardia, proposed to her (she accepted and they are still married) and then took her to the ballpark, where he etched his name into Mets lore for something other than being trade bait. In what has come to be called "The Steve Henderson Game," the left fielder stroked a three-run home run to right that capped a five-run, ninth-inning rally, as the previously awful Mets stunned the Giants, 7-6, to move to within a game of .500 and within six games of the Expos in the NL East. "That was a great, great day," Henderson said with a smile. "I'll always remember that one. But these days are pretty good, too." Nice article on Henderson , can't say I knew much about him before now so thnaks for that. Farmer Ted Oct 21 2008 12:00 PM God, how did I miss Henderson with the Rays? Who else didn't know? AG/DC Oct 21 2008 12:13 PM The funny thing about the Joe Torre era is, despite how much they struggled to get their heads aobve water, how static a roster they had. G-Fafif Oct 22 2008 07:26 AM ="AG/DC":5nmwi48e]The funny thing about the Joe Torre era is, despite how much they struggled to get their heads aobve water, how static a roster they had.[/quote:5nmwi48e] Thinking about this observation in the context of my visceral over-the-top enthusiasm on September 28 when Doug Flynn was introduced. Next to Doc and Fonzie, two Mets I'd been waiting forever for to come home, I wasn't more elated to see anybody in a Mets jersey than Doug Flynn. It was bigger than Willie Mays to me, I think. That probably owes to the fact that those lousy teams from '77 to '80, the core of them anyway, stayed together. Those were our guys in (in my case) junior high and high school. Those were the guys we argued on behalf of, if only in our heads: Flynn, Hendu, Mazz, Blood, Swannie, Dude. They weren't very good but they were always there. Showing up counts. It's the difference (along with the perspective of age and expectation) between those lousy teams and the later lousy teams. There was more movement in the early '90s. It's the way the industry worked then, and you'd have been crazy to have hoped Vince Coleman would have hung around one second longer than he had to. By the lousy teams of '02-'04, there was nothing charming about it, certainly not if you'd lived through other dark eras. Maybe someday somebody who was a kid in 2003 will leap to his feet for an Old Timers introduction of Ty Wigginton. Ah, who am I kidding? I'll leap to my feet for an Old Timers introduction of Ty Wigginton. metirish Oct 27 2008 06:48 AM Koosman ] WHERE ARE THEY NOW? JERRY KOOSMAN BY JIM BAUMBACH | jim.baumbach@newsday.com October 26, 2008 Jerry Koosman hasn't followed the Tampa Bay Rays all that much this season, so he only recently became aware that people are comparing their stunning run to the World Series to the '69 Mets. But even though the former Mets lefthander might not be able to name many of the Tampa Bay players, he sure knows all about what these 20-somethings on the Rays are going through right now. And if the Rays are anything like those Miracle Mets, then they're not looking at this World Series against the Phillies as a chance to prove their worth to America. Because the Mets definitely didn't feel that way. "We felt we proved that we could win," Koosman said, "by getting to the World Series." But once there, the pressure of playing on the big stage definitely was intense. "The World Series was just a new endeavor, something none of us had ever experienced before," said Koosman, who allowed four runs and seven hits in 17 2/3 innings in winning Games 2 and 5. "So every day brought something new, like a different person singing the national anthem." Just like the '69 Mets, the Rays split the first two games of the World Series, losing the first and winning the second. Koosman said he approached Game 2 much differently from a normal game. "Personally, I went out there with a fear of losing," he said. "I just didn't want to lose. I didn't want to be taken out of the ballgame. I didn't want to be pinch hit for. I didn't want to be behind, whatever. I was just really fearful of losing and pitched my butt off because of that. "And in the back of my mind, I had a goal of pitching a perfect game." Seriously? "I certainly was thinking that," he said. Koosman wasn't perfect that day, but he was close enough. He took a no-hitter into the seventh and lasted 8 2/3 innings before Ron Taylor got the final out in the Mets' 2-1 win over the Orioles. Now 65 years old and living in a small Wisconsin suburb about an hour from Minneapolis, Koosman made a point of watching the Rays last week. He said the biggest similarity he noticed between their team and his was the young pitching staffs, especially the starters. The Mets' starters in the World Series were Koosman (26), Tom Seaver (24) and Gary Gentry (23). The Rays' starters are James Shields (26), Andy Sonnanstine (25), Matt Garza (24) and Scott Kazmir (24). The two teams' histories also are similar. In their first seven seasons of existence, the Mets had an average record of 56-105. After going 73-89 in 1968, they were 100-62 in 1969 and won the World Series. In its first 10 years of existence, Tampa Bay had an average record of 65-97. Then the Rays followed a 66-96 2007 season by going 97-65. If history repeats itself, the Rays will not lose again. In '69, the Mets won the series in five games, the last four in a row after losing the first in Baltimore. Koosman pitched Game 5, and he said he felt even more pressure to win that game than Game 2. "You could just sense how great it would be to win in New York and not go back to Baltimore," he said. "That was the main talk in the clubhouse and during batting practice. By the time the game started, each of us, I think, put enough pressure on ourselves. The outside pressure didn't matter anymore." Singer/actress Pearl Bailey, who sang the national anthem that day, approached Koosman just before he started his warmups. "She told me she saw the number eight and forecasted we would win," he said. "She didn't know what the number eight meant, but we won, 5-3." AG/DC Oct 27 2008 07:14 AM How has Jerry occupied himself in retirement? Benjamin Grimm Oct 27 2008 07:30 AM My guess: Golf! AG/DC Oct 27 2008 07:36 AM Well, I was thinking more about income-generating occupation. Has he kept the family farm going? Besides, I'm guessing that the golf in Minnesoata isn't top-notch. Benjamin Grimm Oct 27 2008 08:25 AM Well, he's almost 66 years old. I hope, for his sake, that he's happily retired by now. AG/DC Oct 27 2008 08:45 AM Well, I'm in the present perfect tense here, wondering how he's occupied himself in the interim, since his release by the Philllies. G-Fafif Oct 27 2008 08:51 AM It doesn't speak to his present occupation, but I got a big kick out of Kooz two years ago when SNY brought him and Mookie to town as part of a big pep rally prior to the postseason and Matt Yallof asked him to describe what it was like pitching in New York in October and Jerry took the question literally and described how the cool weather was very helpful. What a great Midwestern answer. metirish Oct 27 2008 09:31 AM Jerry had the open heart surgery a few years back IIRC. AG/DC Oct 27 2008 06:21 PM Straight outa Compton. The Duke Of Flatbush: The Story Of Duke Snider by Isaac Barrow (Senior Writer) Duke Snider is one of the best Dodgers ever to play the game. He played for the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers from 1947 to 1962. He played left field and is one of the best power hitters in baseball history... Duke Snider is one of the best Dodgers ever to play the game. He played for the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers from 1947 to 1962. He played left field and is one of the best power hitters in baseball history. Edwin Donald Snider was born on Sept. 19, 1926 in Los Angeles. Snider was a two-sport athlete, playing football and baseball, which he ended up pretty good at (just thought I'd put it out there). He attended Compton High School from 1940 to 1943. As a baseball player, he was spotted by a Branch Rickey scout and was immediately signed to a minor league contract. He played for the Montreal Royals in 1944, but had just two at bats. In 1945, he was drafted and 1946 would be his first season in professional baseball. He played for Fort Worth that year and in 1947 played for St. Paul. He played quite well there and after starting 1948 for Montreal and tearing it up, he was called up to the Dodgers for good. Snider never made a lot of money in the bigs: "My high salary was 46,000 dollars and a Cadillac." In 1949, he made that step up. He hit 23 home runs, drove in 92 and had a .292 batting clip. Snider had an amazing 1950 season, hitting .321 with 30 one home runs and 107 runs knocked in. The next year, Snider folded under pressure as he saw his average dip 40 four points. "I told (Walter) O'Malley I wanted a trade. I couldn't take the pressure anymore." Snider, being the mentally tough guy he was, adapted. He hit .303 with 21 homers the next year and got management back on his side. The mid 50's were his glory days. He hit 40 or more home runs in five consecutive seasons (1953-57) and averaged 42 home runs, 124 RBI, 123 runs and a .320 batting average between 1953-1956. He dipped dramatically from 1958 to 1964. In 1958, he had 15 home runs and just 58 RBI, but still hit.312 on the season. When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, his fold under pressure became evident. In his remaining years with the Dodgers, his career high in homers was just 23. His career low in Brooklyn was 21. In 1963, Duke played for the Mets. He struggled and wasn't the slugger he was expected to be. He had 14 home runs, 45 RBI and a .243 batting average. On Opening Day of 1964, the Giants picked him up. He was obviously washed up. He had four home runs, 17 RBI and an anemic .210 batting average. 31 years later in 1995, two Hall of Famers: Snider and Willie McCovey pleaded guilty to tax fraud. Snider failed to report income from sports memorabilia sales and sports card shows. In 1980, Snider was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He finished his career with 407 home runs, 1,333 RBI and a .295 batting clip. Since Johnny Podres died in January, Snider is the only living Dodger who was on the field for the 1955 World Series. What I think is funny is how much of a joke he thinks baseball is today. He is sick of the millionaires in baseball. He said, "Man, if I made a million dollars, I'd come at six in the morning, sweep the stands, wash the uniforms, clean out the office, manage the team and play the games." What do you say to that, Manny? MFS62 Oct 28 2008 07:52 AM And not one mention about how, after he retired, Snider went on to be one of the biggest (in terms of crop volume) avacado growers in the country? Later AG/DC Oct 28 2008 07:59 AM It's admittedly a pretty weak piece for a guy tagged as a "senior writer." He gets three quotes from Snider --- wow, old timers are jealous of rich latter day players and think they're prima donnas; shocker! --- and seems to paste the rest togeher from wikipedia or the paper's obits-of-the-future file. He goes chronologically through the career, but his post-career detail includes a one-sentence paragraph about 1995 and then back to 1980. Barely C- work. You get a Hall-of-Famer on the phone, get some juice. Get him to fill in some historical detail that's not on the record. How about calling Manny Ramirez for a rebuttal? HahnSolo Oct 28 2008 09:11 AM Help me with my Duke knowledge. Wasn't he a Center fielder? why does the writer call him a left fielder in the open? AG/DC Oct 28 2008 09:18 AM Good point. The writer seems to be in an unswerving devotion to failing his reader. Snider broke in as a utility outfielder but never played left primarily. He might have landed there, but he quickly took over center when Pete Reiser battered himself into obscurity by running into outfield walls. He played a lot of right at the end of his career, but anybody who knows a bit about the guy would call him a centerfieder. G-Fafif Oct 28 2008 09:31 AM If Snider weren't a centerfielder, Terry Cashman would have written "Willie, Mickey and Whoever Flanked The Duke". Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 07:57 AM Rick White, getting in shape: Springfield News-Sun Ex-Ray, Phillie won't take sides Springfield's Rick White had stops in Tampa Bay and Philadelphia during his 13-year MLB career. By David Jablonski Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD � People ask Rick White all the time, "Do you miss the game?" It's a natural question to pose to a pitcher who appeared in 613 Major League Baseball games for 11 teams over a 13-year period. At this time of year, as he watches two of his former teams play each other in the World Series, the Springfield resident White can expect to hear the question even more often. "I don't miss anything but the game itself," White said on Tuesday, Oct. 28. "I miss being out there competing. I wish I was in one of those bullpens waiting for the phone to ring." White played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 1998, the year the expansion team entered the league, until July 2000 when he was traded to the Mets. In his 2� seasons in Tampa Bay, he compiled a 3.81 ERA in 248 innings. He still ranks eighth in franchise history in games pitched (145). None of the current Rays were with the team when White played for them, but he did play with assistant coaches Dave Martinez (1998-2000) and Tom Foley (with Pittsburgh in 1994). From 2001-07, Tampa Bay ranked last in AL attendance every season. But in its first two seasons, it ranked in the middle of the pack, and White remembers the early years for the franchise as an exciting time. "It was a lot of fun to be a part of that, to be part of something new," he said. "In my first three years, we had teams that were good enough to win. We just couldn't put the pieces together. We weren't able to stop those big losing streaks." White pitched for the Phillies in 2006, compiling a 4.34 ERA in 38 relief appearances. He threw well enough to come away with positive impressions of the notorious Phillies fans. Watching the games over the last week, White said he's not rooting for one team. "I've got a bunch of friends on both teams," he said. "Obviously, the Phillies haven't won it in a long time. It'd be nice for them to win it. I like the National League game better, but I would be fine with whoever won this one." White has not pitched since the end of the 2007 season. For the first time in his life, he was able to take his family on a summer vacation this year. Still, he hasn't given up on baseball. He plans to meet with some general managers after this season about getting into coaching or scouting. He also plans to get his arm in shape � just in case. "I highly doubt it, but my agent says to go ahead and work out and stay in shape," White said. "If somebody is interested, I'll try out. If not, I'll be in shape to throw batting practice." G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 07:59 AM When did Edgy DC come out of retirement? Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 08:07 AM Had to fly my Rube Walker flag. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 08:38 AM Not that there's ever a bad day for it, but any particular reason today is Rube Walker Appreciation Day? Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 08:51 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 29 2008 09:13 AM AG/DC is still working his way through Metly posting levels, while my alter ego Edgy DC, having surpassed 11,000, posts retains the permanent posting designation of his choice --- Rube Walker. When I saw Zvon had created a new avatar for that designation, I had to switch back to Edgy. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 08:54 AM Thank you for indulging the question. It's a very nice avatar. Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 08:54 AM It strikes me that, among multiple posting names here, at the old Crane Pool, and at the MOFo, I probably have over 100,000 posts, and have goofed off more than any internet poster in Metdom. Benjamin Grimm Oct 29 2008 09:08 AM My post total is second to yours, but I never reset myself to zero. My 20,000 or so posts includes the ezBoard totals as well as my name change. I think your biggest competition for all-time post leader might be Scarlett/Cookie Mom/metfairy/Inside Pitcher... Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 09:14 AM Scarlet put in a six-month retirement, but she certainly pre-dated me at the MOFo. I don't know how many handles she worked there. She also had a career at Grand Slam Single. Vic Sage Oct 29 2008 09:33 AM ah, yes, the GSS. I was banned there... a distinction i wear with honor. I don't even remember why. I think i tried to incite an insurrection against their overbearing administrators. SteveJRogers Oct 29 2008 09:44 AM ="Vic Sage":1f3jzt7s]ah, yes, the GSS. I was banned there... a distinction i wear with honor. I don't even remember why. I think i tried to incite an insurrection against their overbearing administrators.[/quote:1f3jzt7s] GSS is spoken of in the same terms quite often over at the MOFO. Kind of feel sorry I missed out on all that fun. metsguyinmichigan Oct 29 2008 09:58 AM As a relative newby, may I must ask what the MOFo is? Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 10:03 AM Mets Online Forum. This forum was established largely in response to a downclick in the level of discourse there. That's right, once we were trying to set a standard. Willets Point Oct 29 2008 10:07 AM MetsOnline itself was a fan-built website in the mid-90's that predated the Mets having a website. MetsOnline was killed by a cease & desist in 2002, although I think there may still be a bulletin board out there where they're calling themselves the MOFO. Benjamin Grimm Oct 29 2008 11:28 AM It sounds like Steve was talking about it in the present tense. SteveJRogers Oct 29 2008 12:34 PM I was referring to the BB that Willets mentioned. Several of the posters on the current MOFO were on GSS (yet another Met forum named after Ventura's infamous game winning hit in Game 5 1999 NLCS of course), and got the boot in the same fashion as Vic mentioned, for pretty much the same reasons. Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 12:43 PM Infamous? Are you a Braves fan? Steve seems to know more about the history of this place than I do, and I don't know hardly anything about him. Benjamin Grimm Oct 29 2008 12:51 PM Yeah, really. I wouldn't put Robin Ventura's game-winning shot in the same category as Pearl Harbor. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 04:15 PM ="Benjamin Grimm"]Yeah, really. I wouldn't put Robin Ventura's game-winning shot in the same category as Pearl Harbor. October 17, 1999: A date which will live in famy. A Boy Named Seo Oct 29 2008 04:21 PM Rogers was either going with the popular, but controversial Lucky Day/El Guapo definition of "infamous", or he's just gettin' all Chipper J. Jeets[/url:1drkl6im] on us. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 04:26 PM Steve's been everywhere, man... seawolf17 Oct 29 2008 05:39 PM ="A Boy Named Seo":1gbomtrk]Rogers was either going with the popular, but controversial Lucky Day/El Guapo definition of "infamous"[/quote:1gbomtrk] Hilarious. "Jefe? Do you know what is a plethora? Well, you told me I have a plethora. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has no idea what it means to have a plethora." One of the best movies ever. Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 05:45 PM Well, maybe one of the best million films ever. I can go for that. Kong76 Oct 29 2008 06:17 PM EDC: Steve seems to know more about the history of this place than I do, and I don't know hardly anything about him <<< StevieJStalker sees all! Frayed Knot Oct 29 2008 07:39 PM ="SteveJRogers":2nu9sgsu]Several of the posters on the current MOFO were on GSS and got the boot in the same fashion as Vic mentioned, for pretty much the same reasons.[/quote:2nu9sgsu] What Vic did to got booted (and me IIRC) had nothing to do with what others did. Edgy DC Oct 30 2008 10:58 AM Dan Reilly, knew when to keep his mouth shut. Check out the piping on ihs original uni. Villager photo by Will McKinley Dan Reilly, the original Mr. Met, at Shea Stadium recently. Reilly with his Mr. Met baseball head back in the mid-1960s when he was the team�s mascot at home games. Mr. Met recalls heady times as first mascot for Amazin�s By WILL McKINLEY Dozens of Mets legends were honored at Shea Stadium�s closing ceremony last month, from Tom Seaver to Mike Piazza and all the lesser lights in between. But one seminal figure in the team�s history was conspicuous by his absence. Dan Reilly, the first man to wear the costume of iconic mascot Mr. Met, watched the bittersweet festivities at home on TV like an ordinary fan. But the longtime Soho resident and author of the new book �The Original Mr. Met Remembers,� is anything but. �I�m disappointed they didn�t invite me back, but I�m not angry,� said Reilly, who played the Mets mascot on and off the field from 1964 through 1967, the first three of his nine years with the club. �Seaver, Koosman, Swoboda, all those guys were my buddies. And I figured they�d like to see me again, too, just to say hello, a few handshakes, keep in touch. They all still call me Mr. Met.� Now 70 and retired, Reilly�s ties with the team go back to Shea�s inaugural season, when he joined the Mets ticket sales staff two months before the debut of their new home. �It was a snowy February morning the day of my interview,� Reilly said last week, as he walked the grounds of the soon-to-be-demolished stadium. �From the outside, it looked like an orange-and-blue skeleton. Nothing was happening and nobody was around. Inside, they were still putting the seats in. And now I�m watching them take those seats out. It�s sad.� Sadness is not an emotion readily associated with Reilly, a jovial, outgoing raconteur who worked in the restaurant business after leaving the Mets in 1972, and recently concluded a four-year stint as the host of game-day ferry rides to Shea. On boat or barstool, the Richmond Hill, Queens, native spins colorful tales of the early days of the Amazin� Mets with a hearty laugh and, on this occasion, a misty eye. �We were a small organization back then, no superstars,� said Reilly, clad in a Mets jersey and still using �we� and �us� when referring to the team he left 36 years ago. �I drank with those guys. I knew where all the good Irish bars in Queens were. And I knew when to keep my mouth shut. That�s why everyone liked me.� Reilly was front and center for nearly all of the significant events of the team�s first decade: Shea�s first opening day; the 1964 All-Star Game; Casey Stengel�s on-field 75th birthday celebration and the infamous after-party at Toots Shor�s, where the legendary manager broke his hip and ended his career; the arrival of 1967 Rookie of the Year Seaver; the managerial tenure of Reilly�s boyhood idol Gil Hodges and, most memorably, the Miracle Mets World Series victory on Oct. 16, 1969. �As soon as that game was over, I ran from the press box down to the clubhouse,� Reilly said 39 years and one day later, as he traced the trajectory from the top of the stadium to the bottom with his finger. �There�s a picture of me in the 1970 yearbook, being doused with champagne by Jerry Grote. Those were my guys. They were the best.� In addition to his daily responsibilities, first in ticket sales and later in the promotions department, Reilly also served as the V.I.P. handler for visiting celebrities and politicians, ran the Mets Speakers Bureau program and filled in as public address announcer at Shea for three weeks in 1966. He also wished four members of a British rock band good luck as they ran on to the field for an August 1965 concert. �I said, �Break a leg, guys,� and one of them said, �Thanks mate!�� Reilly remembered. �I don�t know which one it was because I didn�t know who The Beatles were back then.� But Reilly�s fondest memories began on May 31, 1964, when he donned the papier-m�ch�, baseball-shaped head of the first mascot in Major League Baseball history. The Mets lost both sides of a doubleheader that day to the Giants, whose defection to California with the Brooklyn Dodgers after the 1957 season inspired attorney Bill Shea�s successful crusade to bring National League baseball back to New York. But, between games of that doubleheader, a star was born. �The stadium was packed and I was nervous,� Reilly said with a laugh. �They had told me to play it straight, just walk out there and wave, but the kids started swarming down to meet me in the stands. I shook hands, posed for pictures, signed autographs. After that, I got cocky and started dancing. It was an instant hit. Back then, the fans might not have recognized the players, but they always recognized Mr. Met.� As Reilly remembered the glories of four decades past, he struck up a conversation with a current Mets fan, 48-year-old software engineer Mark Szemberski, who was snapping photos of the now-shuttered stadium. �Of all people to meet, the last time I�m at Shea � Mr. Met!� Szemberski exclaimed, as he posed for a picture with the unlikely celebrity. �You made my day. I hope they invite you back when they open the new stadium.� Reilly handed Szemberski his business card, which features a photo of his younger self in a regulation Mets uniform, holding the outsized head that made him famous. The original Mr. Met is smiling broadly, as always. �Baseball is tradition,� Reilly said, as he bid final farewell to Shea from a departing 7 train. �Mr. Met touched people then, and he still does. I think it�s important to remember how we used to do it, what Shea used to be like. If we do, there will always be a Shea Stadium.� �The Original Mr. Met Remembers: When the Miracle Began� (138 pages) is available at iUniverse.com. HahnSolo Oct 30 2008 11:22 AM The uniform on the right suggests that photo is from '86 (racing stripes and anniversary logo), not from the early sixties. (I see Edgy beat me to that). soupcan Oct 30 2008 11:23 AM Yeah - something's wrong there. Benjamin Grimm Oct 30 2008 11:38 AM I'd guess that in 1986 he was just visiting with his old head. seawolf17 Oct 30 2008 12:07 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":36b19cxk]I'd guess that in 1986 he was just visiting with his old head.[/quote:36b19cxk] Possibly for a 25th anniversary event, which would make sense. Edgy DC Nov 03 2008 02:40 PM The High-A Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino (real name!) have announced their coaching staff, including John Valentin as batting coach and Charlie Hough as pitching coach. I confused Hough with Verne Ruhle and thought he was dead. Edgy DC Nov 10 2008 02:45 PM Candidates being looked at for the Seattle managerial job include Jose Oquendo, the prototype for Rey Ordoñez; Joey Cora, who managed for the Mets in the minors, and Randy Ready, who has one of the porniest names in baseball history. sharpie Nov 11 2008 11:36 AM Soon we can enjoy the literary stylings of Mike Piazza: Mike Piazza, a 12-time All Star for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets, has signed a deal to write his autobiography for Simon & Schuster. V-p and senior editor Bob Bender acquired world rights from David Black, CEO of Black Inc., and Dan Lozano, Piazza�s sports agent. Publication is slated for 2010. In the book, Piazza, who retired just before the 2008 season, will discuss controversies of his career, including the 2000 World Series incident when Roger Clemens threw a shattered bat at him, and the press conference he held to deny rumors that he was gay. The autobiography will also cover Piazza�s tumultuous relationships with the Dodgers, their front office and Tommy Lasorda; as well as his former teammates Bobby Valentine, Pedro Martinez, Rickey Henderson and others. Edgy DC Nov 11 2008 11:40 AM He actually retired well into the 2008 season when he hadn't gotten interest from anybody. And Bobby Valentine wasn't his teammate. Who writes press releases these days? John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 11 2008 11:47 AM Who cares. I'm going to read the hell out of that book. Edgy DC Nov 11 2008 11:52 AM If'n I were you, I contact that agent NOW!!!! and show him your writin' credentials. Benjamin Grimm Nov 11 2008 11:55 AM Good thought. Writing the hell out of the book would be even better than reading the hell out of it. HahnSolo Nov 11 2008 12:19 PM Knowing the publishing industry as I do, I can tell you that acquiring editor had absolutely no interest in the writin' credentials in the manuscript and cared primarily about the name on page 1. Benjamin Grimm Nov 11 2008 12:21 PM So Piazza now shops around for a ghost, I suppose? I figure he'll go with a sportswriter he had a good relationship with during his playing days. G-Fafif Nov 11 2008 12:23 PM Or a David Frum/Michael Gershon otherwise underemployed wordsmith of the right. Mike goes that way. HahnSolo Nov 11 2008 12:25 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":r3mb7fqz]So Piazza now shops around for a ghost, I suppose? I figure he'll go with a sportswriter he had a good relationship with during his playing days.[/quote:r3mb7fqz] I doubt Piazza does the shopping unless there's a writer he was really close to and insists on using him. Otherwise, I expect the literary agent would work with the publisher to find someone. Edgy DC Nov 11 2008 12:28 PM Which is fucking why you should be acting NOW!!!! G-Fafif Nov 11 2008 12:30 PM I'm Richie Hebner for another eight posts or so. I'm not going out of my way to pick up any ground balls for a little while. sharpie Nov 11 2008 12:32 PM David Black, the agent, reps many bigtime sportswriters (including Mitch Albom of "Tuesdays With Morrie" fame). Piazza would have already come attached with a writer by the time the deal was made. Benjamin Grimm Nov 11 2008 12:32 PM I don't want to stir up an ugly intramural competition, but GFafif should also throw his hat in the ring. G-Fafif Nov 11 2008 12:40 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":3prysgfg]I don't want to stir up an ugly intramural competition, but GFafif should also throw his hat in the ring.[/quote:3prysgfg] Thanks, but first I have to finish my "as told to myself" thing. After I stop being Richie Hebner. Edgy DC Nov 12 2008 10:23 AM Former Pitchers Leading Today's Brogna News: Hideo Nomo, teaching the forkball to young buffalos. Frank Viola, getting into the analyst game. Tom Seaver, advising the youth of today and liquoring up Tommy Davis. John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 12 2008 10:41 AM Read also where Leiter was joining the staff at MLB-TV. I guess that means he's leaving the NO! network. Edgy DC Nov 13 2008 08:14 AM So, if you're like me, you grew sick of stories of Lenny Dykstra, swinging finance trader, about two paragraphs into the first one, but now the angle isn't that he's just another player, but that he's actually flourishing during these hard times. The claim is that he's 82-0 in stock picks endorsed in his newsletter. Edgy DC Nov 13 2008 01:36 PM Rick Sweet returning as manager of the Louisville Bats. Local favorite Roger Mason joins the Traverse City Beach Bums as pitching coach. John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 13 2008 01:38 PM Ron Gardenhire gets an extension. Leiter btw, will still work for Al-Yankazeera. Reynolds tho is out at SNY, raising speculation that Bobby Ojeda is on his way in. I think I speak for everyone ever by saying it would be nice to mix a 73er or 99-00er in there. TransMonk Nov 13 2008 01:42 PM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket":1jn4n2h7]I think I speak for everyone ever by saying it would be nice to mix a 73er or 99-00er in there.[/quote:1jn4n2h7] Didn't Zeile get a shot once? Benjamin Grimm Nov 13 2008 01:44 PM I was thinking a 69er: Ron Swoboda. Edgy DC Nov 13 2008 05:02 PM Sam Perlozzo joins the Phils. Bang. metsguyinmichigan Nov 13 2008 11:01 PM ="Edgy DC":828l4i24]Rick Sweet returning as manager of the Louisville Bats. Local favorite Roger Mason joins the Traverse City Beach Bums as pitching coach.[/quote:828l4i24] Traverse City is a beautiful resort area about two hours north of me. The team is fairly new, and plays in an independent league. We used to play in an all-newspaper softball tournament in Traverse, and it was fun until the Detroit News took it over and started stacking its team with ringers who didn't work for the paper. Cads! I'll have to head up this summer and see a game and talk to Mason! Edgy DC Nov 14 2008 10:19 AM Holy Foli, Batman, it's Sammy Drake! In a Mets hat! An old friendship, forged 50 years ago, is rekindled AUGUSTA -- It was the New York Mets cap on his head. This being Red Sox country, people had to stop the athletic, older man this week and ask. "What's up with the hat?" That's when C. Wayne Mitchell glanced at his guest and stepped in. "This is Sammy Drake. Don't you know who he is?" No one did, to the amusement of both men. "He's an original member of the Mets," Mitchell would tell them. "He's my friend." It's a friendship forged nearly 50 years ago, interrupted by decades of separation and searching by Mitchell and resumed about four years ago. Mitchell's family, aware of his wish to reconnect, trolled the Internet, finding Drake at a Mets reunion in New Jersey. Sunday, Drake came to Mitchell's home in Sidney for a four-day visit. They laughed and joked and marveled again at the strength of a relationship neither fully understood when it began on a hot U.S. Army base in the deep south at a time when full integration was still a dream. Drake was a draftee from Little Rock, Ark. trying to keep alive his dream of playing major league baseball while he was serving his country. Mitchell was the 7-year-old son of a career soldier returned from duty in Germany and new to the Georgia base. That summer, the young boy discovered the Fort Gordon Rams and a young, talented infielder who asked Mitchell if he wanted to be the bat boy. "I could see he was interested in baseball," said Drake during lunch at a local restaurant Wednesday. Drake remembered when he fell in love with the game. The two played catch. Sometimes, Mitchell would go the base recreation center where Drake worked. They were so different in age and in race. Then, Mitchell was too young to understand what it meant to be a young black adult in Georgia. Drake, of course, did. A year or two after meeting, Mitchell's father was transferred to Taiwan. Mitchell got a baseball glove, a bat, a handshake, and much later, when he could fully understand, an outlook on life. "Of all the hello's and good-bye's, his was the one I remember most," said Mitchell, while Drake nodded. "I knew a thank-you would be in order." Mitchell's story to this point became a column I wrote four years ago. Then, I couldn't reach Drake who had returned to his home in Los Angeles. Wednesday, at lunch, I introduced myself. Meeting Mitchell wasn't a coincidence, Drake said. There was a reason that maybe still isn't clear 50 years later. Drake was surprised, but not stunned when Mitchell walked up to his table at the hotel where the Mets reunion and autograph session took place. He's met a lot of people in his 74 years and has usually found the goodness in them, even under trying circumstances. "At first I thought he as a typical fan," Drake said. "When he started talking about Fort Gordon I knew right away." Drake can't say he thought about Mitchell much over the years. Neither did he forget the young bat boy who would go to the gym to fold towels and stay out of the way of the soldiers.� "He would get picked on by the ballplayers a little bit. It was all in fun, but I could see it bothered him. I'd say, come with me. Let's play catch." Drake signed with the Chicago Cubs for $1,500 and was later assigned to Macon, Ga. to play for Pepper Martin in the so-called Sally League. He was the first African-American to play in the league he says. The most hurtful part of that season? "Not being able to sleep in the same hotels with my teammates. Not being able to eat with them. I could get carry-out or go across the river to a (black-owned restaurant.)" In the next breath, Drake tells of Martin's effort to get him seated with the team at a restaurant in Indiana. Martin, nicknamed the Wild Horse of the Osage, was a third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals' "Gashouse Gang" in the 1930s and colorblind. Drake remembers one of his first trips to spring training with the Cubs after his two years in the Army. He was one of three black ballplayers in a group of 50 minor leaguers were assigned to a barracks-style building. "Every night I would pray. They must have thought I was from another planet. "But I had a good spring training. When camp broke, everyone was on their knees praying but two." Monday, Mitchell and Drake had breakfast with Roger Katz, the mayor of Augusta and a baseball fan. Katz invited Drake to speak to the city council that night. He told the story of a Cubs tryout he attended in Winnipeg, Manitoba and the sore arm he had. He couldn't throw across the infield. Discouraged, he called the grandmother who raised him. Don't worry, he was told. She would pray for him. "We had a big snowstorm," said Drake smiling. "We couldn't use the field for two weeks. I soaked my arm in the bath tub every day. I was ready." The Mets drafted him off the Cubs roster. His two-year, major league career was the proverbial cup of coffee. In 53 games he hit .153. His older brother, Solly, played parts of three seasons with the Cubs, Phillies and Dodgers. Together, they were the first African-American brothers to play major league baseball. Early Thursday morning, Drake said good-bye to Mitchell and his wife, Bonnie, and began his trip back to Los Angeles. A graduate of Philander Smith College in Little Rock, he's a retired investigator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He teaches Sunday School at the Greater Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, where his brother, the Rev. Dr. Solomon Drake, is pastor to a 6,000-member congregation. They've listened to the story of how a young white boy and a young black adult became lasting friends. It shouldn't be forgotten. Edgy DC Nov 19 2008 10:38 AM Jack Aker, out of work and vulnerable like the rest of us. This old ballplayer understands life better than most by Rabbi Ben Kamin, Spiritual Life Examiner Jack Aker, a name known to aficionados of the national pastime, is something of a legend. But if his baseball card could talk, you�d hear a lot more than breezy play-by-play. Here�s a guy who made more appearances (495) as a relief pitcher than anybody in his time, but found himself taken out of the game quite before he expected. Like anybody suddenly not doing the thing we�ve been doing forever, Jack found himself looking down the abyss�he was tearful, anxious, and despondent. Baseball players are real people, in spite of the hype we impose on them, and their souls hurt, their spirits droop, just like all hard-working Americans. Jack won the Sporting News �Fireman of the Year� award in 1966 and played for the Kansas City and then Oakland Athletics, the Seattle Pilots, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, and New York Mets. When I met him some years ago, he was pitching coach of the Cleveland Indians; I caught my breath short, extending and receiving hands of friendship with a living and breathing major leaguer who was on a first-name basis with such stars as Phil Niekro and Tom Seaver. I saw him at his tallest. Arriving on the green natural field before game time, Jack came for me, in full regalia�snappy cap and shimmering team jacket. He walked across fresh, chalky baselines with a certain, lanky royalty. There were the first faint smells of popcorn and beer from the bowels from the bowels of the old stadium as the coach escorted me into the clubhouse. Jack took me into a comfortably large room filled with open booths that served as repositories for the players. �Here,� he declared, �we meet and discuss the game plan.� Like a knothole sentry, he walked past the colognes and hair dryers of the bath area towards a large bin containing thick, polished baseball bats. He said, somberly: �Nobody can touch a man�s bat. You see, Ben, they are numbered according to his uniform number. The bat is a very personal matter to a guy. Nobody can touch it.� I understood what a sacrilege was and I shook my head in awe of power and success. A little over a year later, following a season of fallen expectations and profits, Jack (and the team manager) were both summarily dismissed from their positions. Now, this same Jack, record-holder, my invincible hero, sat in the front of my automobile, shoulders slumped, his head in his hands. We were taking a ride in the country as the venerable coach tried to sort things out. His prestige, his income, and his self-image were suddenly as powdery as the faded chalk lines of that emerald ball field he had once ruled. Jack was gone, the manager was gone, as well as a number of the muscular, sleek, swaggering players I had met that shining afternoon�in a different season. A person is so much more than his baseball card, her resume, his cellular list of �contacts.� Jack is doing okay, taking in his children and grandchildren, knowing well what it means to be laid off, discarded, discontinued. Maybe this old ballplayer understands America right now better than most. MFS62 Nov 19 2008 11:00 AM Thank you, Edgy. Anyone who ever lost a job knows that you didn't have to bold that portion. We would have noticed it and commiserated(sp?) with Jack. But the way it was said was an unexpected pleasure in a piece like that, wasn't it? Later Edgy DC Nov 19 2008 11:03 AM I was just imitating the original publishing, which set it as a pullquote. Farmer Ted Nov 19 2008 12:07 PM Tim Foli will return to manage Washington's Class AAA affiliate in 2009. Met Hunter Nov 19 2008 10:37 PM John Stearns will be back managing the Nats AA team in Harrisburg as well. Benjamin Grimm Nov 20 2008 06:14 AM Tim Bogar was among three who interviewed for a spot on the Phillies coaching staff. The problem is, they thought they were interviewing Doug Flynn. Edgy DC Nov 21 2008 10:06 AM John Nunnaly, batting coach with the Columbus Clippers. Edgy DC Nov 23 2008 08:56 PM Jeff Innis, Cape Cod League Hall-of-Famer. Edgy DC Nov 28 2008 11:45 AM Tim Bogar formally accepts the Red Sox offer to coach first. John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 28 2008 12:37 PM The last 5 or 6 messages belong in that other thread. Edgy DC Dec 04 2008 10:34 AM I consider coaching jobs part of retirement. Rico's was a coaching job. I hear you, though. Nonetheless, I'm sticking with it for one more thread, as Joe McEwing takes over the Winston-Salem Former Warthogs. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 04 2008 10:43 AM Just for that it's my duty to report that Jason Hardtke has been named hitting coach of the Missoula Osprey (Dbaggs -Pioneer League). The Baggs also named Brett Butler manager of the Reno Aces (PCL). G-Fafif Dec 04 2008 01:04 PM I once received a letter letting me know Brett Butler would come and speak to my employees and motivate them with his life experiences and faith in Christ for only $20,000. How much is each Ace going to have to ante up for the privilege? Edgy DC Dec 16 2008 09:38 AM West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff. Benjamin Grimm Dec 16 2008 09:56 AM You must have overlooked Jerry Cram in your Google subscription: ="Our Sports Central":3gap6pnt] SAN JOSE, CALIF December 15, 2008- The San Jose Giants announced their 2009 coaching staff today with Andy Skeels joining the club as manager, Jerry Cram as pitching coach and Gary Davenport returning as hitting coach. Yukiya Oba also returns as the team's athletic trainer. ... Jerry Cram is familiar with San Jose after spending three years as the Giants pitching coach from 2001-2003. The former major leaguer is now entering his ninth season in the San Francisco organization after working the last five years (2004-2008) as pitching coach of the Salem- Keizer Volcanoes (Short-Season). During his time in the Giants farm system, Cram's teams have won three league championships: San Jose in 2001 and Salem-Keizer in 2006 and 2007. Cram spent parts of four seasons in the major leagues with the Kansas City Royals (1969, 1976) and New York Mets (1974-1975), compiling a 0-3 record and 2.98 ERA over 23 career appearances. Cram has devoted 28 years to the Kansas City organization, the last 14 as a pitching instructor, in a tenure that ended in 1997. Cram then spent three seasons as a pitching coach in the Colorado Rockies minor league system before joining the San Francisco organization prior to the 2001 campaign. ... The San Jose Giants open their 2009 season on Thursday, April 9th at Municipal Stadium vs. the Stockton Ports. The Opening Night Extravaganza will include a post-game fireworks display, 2009 magnet schedule giveaway, the return of Gigante and much more. [/quote:3gap6pnt] metsguyinmichigan Dec 16 2008 12:29 PM ="Edgy DC":3l94882y]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:3l94882y] The Whitecaps have a thing on Sunday afternoons where you can either go on the field to play catch, or go near the dugout where all the players stand in a line and sign autographs. (kids get a free soda and hot dog, too. We got to a lot of Sunday games.) So last year I brought my treasured Mets book, sought out DePastino to sign it and tried to talk to him about his short Mets tenure. Even though there was no one else around and nothing going on, he had absolutely nothing to say. Was disappointed. Maybe I'll have better luck with Benny. G-Fafif Dec 16 2008 12:37 PM ="Edgy DC":1sfgljfz]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:1sfgljfz] What's Distefano's Met pedigree (other than breaking up David Cone's no-hitter?) At least this will give Distefano and DePastino a chance to exchange each other's misdirected mail. Benjamin Grimm Dec 16 2008 12:49 PM He was a replacement player with the Mets in spring training 1995. G-Fafif Dec 16 2008 12:59 PM Now that you say it, it sounds remotely familiar though I have to confess I might have missed it on a multiple choice. Any other ex-big leaguers in that camp? metsguyinmichigan Dec 16 2008 02:07 PM Stan Jefferson, I think. I saw a couple of those spring games. HahnSolo Dec 16 2008 02:25 PM ="G-Fafif":1lmhw7l1] ="Edgy DC":1lmhw7l1]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:1lmhw7l1] What's Distefano's Met pedigree (other than breaking up David Cone's no-hitter?) At least this will give Distefano and DePastino a chance to exchange each other's misdirected mail.[/quote:1lmhw7l1] Italian restaurants in West Michigan are scurrying to bid for the postgame spread. HahnSolo Dec 16 2008 02:26 PM ="metsguyinmichigan":2a90z7f9]Stan Jefferson, I think. I saw a couple of those spring games.[/quote:2a90z7f9] Two guys I went to high school with, Cliff Gonzalez (8th round pick of the Mets in '85) and Chris Walpole, were in that camp. Gonzalez and Jefferson knew each other having both been from Co-op City. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 17 2008 09:11 AM ] DYKSTRA DROPS THE BALL By KEITH J. KELLY December 17, 2008 -- FORMER New York Mets out fielder Lenny Dykstra appears to be striking out with his magazine, Players Club. Dykstra, who helped the 1986 Mets capture the World Series before landing with the Philadelphia Phillies, is leaving behind a string of unpaid bills and a constant parade of shifting editors and office addresses. In the latest upheaval, Chris Frankie, the acting editor, resigned Dec. 4 along with two other staffers. Now Loren Feldman, former editor-in-chief of Philadelphia magazine, is said to be ready to join as the new chief editor. "Loren Feldman is the new editor," said Dykstra. Meanwhile, Frankie says he's owed back pay. But Dykstra sees things differently: "That's not true. Frankie owes me money. Whatever he's talking about is delusional." Counters Frankie, "That's beyond ridiculous. How could an employee owe an employer money?" Beyond three months' back pay, Frankie said he's also owed for business expenses. Frankie, who had originally helped Dykstra write the TheStreet.com's "Nails on the Numbers" column, got the editor job in August after Dykstra's talks with Neil Amdur, a former sports editor at The New York Times, collapsed at the last minute after a fight over Amdur's ability to hire deputies. "I did fly out there for a meeting with Dykstra about the editor's job," Amdur confirmed. "I spent a couple of days with him. He did offer me the job." The last issue of Players Club was published in October, and the November issue will now be combined into a year-end double issue that has yet to appear. His aim with the magazine was to help professional athletes make sensible investments with the money they earn from sports to ensure they don't go broke when their pro careers end. But present and former staffers say that Dykstra, who during his days with Major League Baseball had the nickname "Nails," is tough as nails when it comes to paying his staff or vendors. Frequently, sources said, he got staff to use their own credit cards to pay for ex penses related to the maga zine, and took months to re imburse the employees. Although the magazine is less than a year old, it has al ready had four different printers and three different editors. Several vendors have also stopped doing business with the magazine. The latest vendor to suspend business is Getty Images, which sources say is owed around $40,000. Dykstra claims that's not true. "I have a great relationship with them," he said of Getty. One source who's worked closely with Dykstra said he "has a haphazard way of paying - he just wires you money." "It's always that the money is just about to come in and everyone will be paid," this person said, adding that if someone demands payment, then Dykstra turns on them. "If you demand payment, then you are the enemy. "He always feels abandoned by people, but he doesn't seem to realize that he's the reason people abandon him." Frayed Knot Dec 17 2008 09:24 AM This surprises me not. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 17 2008 09:26 AM Gotta love the irony in this venture being all about athletes spending wisely. Edgy DC Dec 17 2008 09:26 AM Another day, another house of cards. Edgy DC Dec 22 2008 03:04 PM Aaron Ledesma, infield coach for the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees. The Yankees get a AAA infield coach? What a ripoff! Frayed Knot Dec 22 2008 07:36 PM Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore. Edgy DC Dec 26 2008 08:28 AM DJ has no regrets. Of course he doesn't. He got to be a Met. D.J. Dozier had a Bo Jackson-like versatility Posted to: 50 Greatest Sports By Ed Miller The Virginian-Pilot As William, Bill, or even Billy, it just would not have worked as well. William Henry "D.J." Dozier would have been no less the athlete without that alliterative name, smooth as one of his touchdown runs or fielding gems at shortstop. That name - "D.J. Dozier" - was the shiny bow on top of the package of prep stardom. And Dozier was the complete package: a three-sport standout at Kempsville High, wooed by virtually every major football program in the country, coveted by virtually every pro baseball scout. Virginia Tech coach Bill Dooley came to the Norfolk Sports Club in December 1982 and made a public pitch for Dozier, something that would not be allowed under recruiting rules today, when coaches can't woo prospects through the media. Major league teams waved dollar signs in front of him, trying to convince him to skip football and play baseball. Dozier, No. 12 on the list of greatest athletes from South Hampton Roads, chose football - and Penn State. Later, after several years in the NFL, he reversed course and picked up a bat and glove. Good enough to briefly make it to the majors, he was, in an era of two-sport dabblers, a local, lower-wattage version of guys such as Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders. "Obviously, when you look at the statistics, the numbers are certainly not what I hoped they would have been," said Dozier, now 43 and back in Virginia Beach working as a business consultant. "But the fact that I had the opportunity to go that far with what I would call God-given ability is a tremendous blessing." A dynamo at Penn State, Dozier forever will be a made man among Nittany Lion greats after leading the team in rushing four straight years, earning All-America honors twice and scoring the winning touchdown in a national championship victory over Miami. Things never clicked for him in the NFL, though. A first-round pick, Dozier missed time with injuries and didn't like the way the Vikings were using him - which was not too often. After three years, he signed with the Mets and began the climb through the minors in 1990. Meanwhile, contract talks with the Vikings stalled. Dozier finally re-signed with them halfway through the 1990 season. Dozier finished out that season and played six games with Detroit in 1991. With his baseball career seemingly blossoming, he left football behind. He would play just 25 games for the Mets, though, in 1992. In 1994, at 28, he moved on with his life, retiring from baseball. Dozier has coached, traveled the world doing missionary work, worked as a financial planner and investment banker. He moved back to Virginia recently from Allentown, Pa. He brought with him no regrets. Dozier said he remembered a former Kempsville teammate who played at Lock Haven University. Dozier knew he was good enough to play at Penn State and told his coaches. They offered him a chance to come to Happy Valley. In the end, though, the friend chose the security of staying at Lock Haven, later second-guessing his decision not to take his shot. "I never forgot what he told me about the regret part of it," Dozier said. "That's what it was for me with baseball. I look at it as something that was a bit nuts, but I really felt that I could do it. "The biggest thing about it is I didn't want to look back and regret not trying." He'll never have to. Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372 ed.miller@pilotonline.com metsguyinmichigan Dec 26 2008 11:17 AM That's a nice story! Plus, I'd forgotten how nasty those old Tides caps were. G-Fafif Dec 26 2008 01:32 PM ="Frayed Knot":34ueq9bz]Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore.[/quote:34ueq9bz] How do you suppose he'll greet his new players...or monstrously huge batboy? themetfairy Dec 26 2008 02:12 PM ="G-Fafif":1emwxaju] ="Frayed Knot":1emwxaju]Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore.[/quote:1emwxaju] How do you suppose he'll greet his new players...or monstrously huge batboy?[/quote:1emwxaju] No - just with a simple, "Welcome Abordick," of course! Edgy DC Dec 30 2008 07:42 AM Felix Mantilla, spreading the good chromosomes around. Mantilla earning court time at Yale December 30, 2008 NEWS-SUN STAFF REPORT Mundelein High grad Raffi Mantilla has worked his way into the playing rotation for the Yale University men's basketball team. The sophomore guard has played in all eight Bulldog games (2-6 record), and is averaging nearly 10 minutes of action each game. He's scored a total of 18 points in those eight contests. Mantilla is the grandson of former major-league baseball player Felix Mantilla, who played with the Milwaukee Braves, New York Mets and Boston Red Sox in a long pro career. MFS62 Jan 03 2009 02:29 PM In keeping with the three name thread in the non-baseball forum, I'll always remember him as Felix Lamela Mantilla. (I dunno why, but his middle name always stuck in my mind) Later Edgy DC Jan 03 2009 02:31 PM Yup, and time to retire Brogna 2008.

[metirish]

A torch like the Olympic torch?....will there be protesters ?

[stevejrogers]

Gotta love though how two writers for the Daily Snooze have mixed signals on Kingman's attendance this weekend!

I mean I'm sure he must have had a change in heart (money, pressure, whatever it could have been) between the McCarron piece and the Rubin blog, but it is still funny.

[stevejrogers]

="metirish":17v811sj]A torch like the Olympic torch?....will there be protesters ?[/quote:17v811sj] Sure, the gang from Loge13.com and their buddies in the Iron Triangle!

HahnSolo Sep 23 2008 10:47 AM

="SteveJRogers":nytpgns8] ="Adam Rubin":nytpgns8]It�s believed a torch may go from Shea Stadium to Citi Field.[/quote:nytpgns8] And how will that be tamer and less cheezy than bringing out team and/or stadium employees as "ghosts" of long dead players and managers?[/quote:nytpgns8] You're kidding, right? Benjamin Grimm Sep 23 2008 10:51 AM Wait... what? Did the Yankees really have the soda vending guy dressed up as the ghost of Lou Gehrig? And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? (I have to confess: I know nothing about how the Yankees celebrated the closing of their ballpark. I didn't watch and didn't read any of the accounts.) HahnSolo Sep 23 2008 10:53 AM Yes. And Yes. metirish Sep 23 2008 11:02 AM I read something about forcing 105 year old Julia Ruth Stevens (Babe's daughter) to throw out the first pitch , wanting everything to look wonderful Hank had her warm up in the bullpen before hand. soupcan Sep 23 2008 11:27 AM I've got questions. When the soda guy/ghost of Lou Gehrig was introduced, was the rain-like applause hard or soft? Also - when the ghost of Bill Dickey came out, was he able to catch Babe Ruth's non-blood relative's first pitch while still holding his tray of cotton candy? Benjamin Grimm Sep 23 2008 11:30 AM You're making it all sound so... so... cheesy! seawolf17 Sep 23 2008 12:51 PM ="soupcan":7nnlxn67]Also - when the ghost of Bill Dickey came out, was he able to catch Babe Ruth's non-blood relative's first pitch while still holding his tray of cotton candy?[/quote:7nnlxn67] No, but he did get docked pay for missing an hour's worth of selling time. Dude didn't make his quota for the day. SteveJRogers Sep 23 2008 02:53 PM ="Benjamin Grimm"] And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? Well an actual torch would be. Symbolic, like home plate, different story. soupcan Sep 23 2008 02:57 PM ="SteveJRogers"] ="Benjamin Grimm"] And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? Well an actual torch would be. Symbolic, like home plate, different story. Since when are you the arbiter of all things cheesy or non? A torch, while a bit odd I admit, is nowhere near as stupid as bringing out hot dog hawkers dressed as legendary ballplayers. AG/DC Sep 29 2008 09:23 AM Now and perhaps forever: the only Tracy in Mets History. LOCAL LEGENDS: Coeburn High School�s Tracy Stallard Published: September 28, 2008 BY TIM HAYES BRISTOL HERALD COURIER It�s both unfair and unfortunate that Tracy Stallard�s baseball career has come to be defined by one moment. He never lost a game while pitching at Coeburn High School and his exploits are the stuff of legend in Wise County. He put together a respectable seven-season career in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. Yet, despite all those accomplishments, Stallard is still remembered most for one moment. One pitch. One game. It occurred on the final day of the 1961 regular season at Yankee Stadium. Stallard was 23-years-old and in his second season in the big leagues with Boston. He appeared in 43 games that summer for the Red Sox, shuffling between the bullpen and the starting rotation. Boston manager Pinky Higgins decided to start the young right-hander in the final game of the season against a potent New York Yankees lineup. He was solid through three innings and started the fourth inning by striking out Tony Kubek. Then Roger Maris stepped into the batter�s box. Maris had tied Babe Ruth�s single-season home run record of 60, and this game represented his final chance to surpass a mark that had stood for 34 years. In the fourth, he blasted a Stallard pitch down the right-field line. The ball soared into the stands, Maris placed his name in the record book and Stallard forever became the answer to a trivia question. While Stallard and Maris will be eternally linked because of that pitch, there�s more to the Stallard story. Much more. The native son Carroll Dale was a standout athlete in high school during the mid-1950s. The Wise native was so good, in fact, that he went on to play football at Virginia Tech and eventually earned two Super Bowl titles as a wide receiver with the Green Bay Packers. But there was a pitcher at rival Coeburn that Dale and many others just couldn�t solve. �I know every time we played Coeburn, he would have 16 or 17 strikeouts and that was it,� Dale said. �I don�t think anybody was very competitive when he was pitching.� That pitcher was Stallard, and many players went down swinging at his fastball for four unbeaten years. His best season with the Blue Knights came as a senior, when he went 8-0 and tossed two no-hitters. Those numbers earned him a spot in the Virginia High School League Hall of Fame in 2005. His performance also attracted major-league scouts. He signed with the Red Sox in 1956, thus beginning his professional career. Stallard starred in the minor leagues and made his big league debut on Sept. 24, 1960, at Cleveland Stadium. In the ninth inning of Boston�s 11-7 loss to the Cleveland Indians, Stallard entered and worked a scoreless inning. He registered his first major-league strikeout during that outing, fanning Woodie Held for the second out. Back in Coeburn, it was a big deal. �It was a very proud town,� Coeburn resident Steve Hubbard Sr. recalled. Stallard also saw a familiar face when he arrived in Boston. Scott County native Dave Hillman was also a pitcher for Boston, and the duo gave the Red Sox the distinction of having two Southwest Virginia natives on the roster at the same time. �He was a great teammate,� Hillman said. �We had quite a few conversations in the bullpen and everywhere else in Boston about pitching � He could pitch, and he had good stuff.� The moment Stallard appeared in four games for Boston in 1960. The next year he compiled a 2-7 record and a 4.88 ERA and allowed 15 home runs, including the one on Oct. 1 that proved to be historically significant. But there are some things that many people forget or simply don�t know about his encounter with Maris. Maris� solo blast was the only run Stallard allowed in seven innings that day in Boston�s 1-0 loss. It was also the only hit Maris had in seven career at-bats against Stallard. Stallard also played five more seasons in the majors after that fateful day at Yankee Stadium. After pitching in just one game for the Red Sox in 1962, Stallard was traded to the New York Mets, along with Al Moran and Pumpsie Green, for Felix Mantilla. Stallard�s stats weren�t too impressive during those two seasons in New York � he went 6-17 with a 4.71 ERA in 1963 and 10-20 with a 3.79 ERA in 1964 � but keep in mind that the Mets lost a combined 220 games those two seasons, so he didn�t have much run support. For instance, in a August 4, 1964 game against the San Francisco Giants, Stallard allowed just one earned run in 10 1/3 innings. Yet, he settled for no decision, and the Mets eventually lost 4-3 in 14 innings. Earlier that season in a game at Shea Stadium, Stallard was again on the wrong side of history. He was the losing pitcher on June 21, when Philadelphia�s Jim Bunning tossed a perfect game against the Mets. Stallard would be on the move again in 1964 as he and Elio Chacon were dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Gordie Richardson and Johnny Lewis. Stallard had his best season in the summer of 1964, going 11-8 with a 3.38 ERA in 40 games (26 starts) for the Cardinals. He was in the same rotation as Bob Gibson, and his battery mates included Tim McCarver and Bob Uecker. One year later, Stallard went 1-5 with a 5.68 ERA for the Cardinals. It was his final season in the majors. His final tally was a 30-57 record with four saves and a 4.17 ERA in 183 major league games. He also fared well against some of the league�s greatest hitters. Willie Mays hit just .200 and struck out six times in 30 at-bats against the kid from Coeburn, while Harmon Killebrew, Mickey Mantle and Ernie Banks were also among his strikeout victims. These days The 71-year-old Stallard keeps a low profile these days. In fact, numerous attempts to reach him for this story were unsuccessful. He is still competitive, as evidenced by the fact he competes in several area golf tournaments. This summer, he won the super seniors division at a prestigious tournament at Lonesome Pine Country Club in Big Stone Gap. Maris� record was broken in 1998 and now ranks just seventh all-time on the single-season home run list. Still, Maris and Stallard will be forever linked in baseball history because of that one moment in 1961. thayes@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2570 John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 29 2008 09:30 AM Shame on Stallard for making Tim Hayes write that story without his contribution. I read where Stallard was quite the dashing young stud around the city. AG/DC Sep 29 2008 09:42 AM Decent job grinding it out anyhow by young Hayes. AG/DC Oct 06 2008 03:01 PM Rusty Tillman is: a former Mets outfielder claiming to be Jose Canseco's first source for steroids homeless and living in the woods Bridget Murphy of the The Florida Times Union joins the Rico Brogna Journalism All Star Team. From pro-baseball to homeless Hometown baseball hero Rusty Tillman lived a life many dream about. Now he calls a tent his home. By The Times-Union Story by BRIDGET MURPHY Photos by JON M. FLETCHER "It's not like they put a sign out there, 'This is where Rusty Tillman's ball landed.' " The ex-slugger is playing down his glory days from a bench in the away dugout at Fletcher High School. But Kerry Jerome "Rusty" Tillman is basking in not-so-secret pleasure as an old schoolmate is doing his best to resurrect one day in particular. JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Rusty Tillman holds his 2-year-old daughter Sarah during an afternoon visit. While circumstances have left Tillman homeless in Mayport, he tries to make it a habit to visit his daughter daily. It was a Senators home game, must have been 1977, Fletcher Athletic Director Joe Reynolds remembers. A slender 17-year-old in a white-and-purple uniform stepped up to the plate. Then with a crack of wood on stitched leather, Tillman ripped a moon shot. Fans at the Neptune Beach school swarmed the fence to watch the rocket rise up, up and over the outfield wall. Reynolds was coaching on the track and sent one of his runners after the baseball. He says no one has smashed one so far since. Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal.Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal.Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal. "I remember where I was when President Kennedy was killed," Reynolds says. "... I remember when he hit that baseball." The story means the world to Tillman, now 48. Now homeless. He is desperate to cling to the things that are good in his life. Even if he has to flash back 30 years to find them. Those were the days when Chuck Fisette, a lefty who threw 94-mph "smoke" for the Senators, said pitchers cringed when Tillman came up to bat. "You knew he was going to hit it out of the park. You just didn't know how far or in what direction," said the now-veteran Jacksonville corrections officer. By the time Tillman graduated, he'd turned down a Cincinnati Reds offer. But nobody knew how far Tillman would go. Or later, after his 1979 selection by the New York Mets and time on two other major league teams, how far he would fall. Or the kind of secrets he was keeping. Most people still don't know. Because while Reynolds and Tillman were reminiscing in the dugout that July morning, Reynolds had no idea that Tillman was living in a tent in the woods a few miles away. He had no idea that Tillman had been a visitor at Fisette's workplace in recent years, or that he was selling his blood plasma to buy his only luxuries: cell phone minutes, Copenhagen snuff and Sonic banana smoothies. JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Tillman in a 1977-78 Fletcher High School yearbook. Sometimes Tillman also splurged on bug spray. It saved his skin from the blood-suckers that left itchy reminders he had an address marked only by the tags surveyors left on trees. 'Tillman Country Club' Somebody's watchdogs tattle on Tillman as he sneaks through a hole in the fence behind Mayport apartments. But the intruder doesn't hesitate. He rolls his bicycle into knee-high weeds, away from manicured lawns, away from painted parking spots and dead-bolted doors, away from everything else there is for anybody to protect. When the animals sense it, the barking stops. At 6 feet tall and about 200 pounds, it's mostly the creatures that slither in the grass that worry Tillman in the woods. The muscles that served him in pro ball - a bulk strangely still there - won't help with a snakebite. He carries a flashlight at night to spot snakes and zips the opening of his gray tent to keep them out. A blue tarp on top of that tent was all the protection Tillman had during Tropical Storm Fay in August. He stayed put even after two trees crashed onto the tents of homeless friends who left. "Living out here, I have learned a lot," he says. "I never thought I'd be here. I guess once I get back, I'll learn to appreciate what I had." Tillman calls the maroon mountain bike that a pastor gave him - after a promise he wasn't on drugs - his "Escalade." He says he's been clean at least three months. Tillman parks the bike in front of the camp he calls "Tillman Country Club." His belongings include blankets, a radio and a battery-operated unit that delivers shock therapy to his sports-worn knees. He sleeps next to a saw blade and a kitchen knife for protection. Tillman also has a portable TV. He powers it with a car battery that needs a recharge every four days. He has nothing left from his baseball days. No player cards. No uniform caps. No money. Tillman is a man whose family wants to help - begs to help. He is a man with smarts, with guts, with pride - yes, plenty of that. It is the piston that drives him to believe that after his journey, as he says, "from the penthouse to the craphouse," he will get his life together without charity. He knows there is a prize waiting for him when he does. Her name is Sarah Tillman. She turned 2 last month. Nearly every evening, Tillman pedals from his camp to her mother's home in the posh Selva Marina section of Atlantic Beach. Then the father tucks the toddler into bed and slips back into the woods. "I'll probably die from worrying someday," Tillman says by his tent on the kind of summer afternoon that demands air conditioning and cool drinks. "I think what keeps me going now is seeing my daughter graduate from high school." If Tillman makes it to Sarah's elementary school days, he says there will be another reward too: a Major League Baseball pension of about $35,000 a year. Kate Weatherby, Sarah's mother and Tillman's ex-girlfriend, says there's nothing she can do to help him in the meantime. "He knows what he needs to do to get things in order. It's making the choice to do that," she says. But how does a hometown hero who rises to a champagne life skid to the streets? There were fast times and women, divorces and drugs, is how Tillman tells it. Then there were secrets about the drugs, some Tillman said never should have come out. Even after he bottomed out, Tillman said he never sold out his baseball family to make a buck. Instead, he accepted it as his short-lived fame slipped away with his modest fortune. Instead, he fumed as he watched ex-Oakland Athletics teammate Jose Canseco rake in attention and money with two books about baseball's steroids scandal. Tillman said four teammates, including Canseco, bought and used the steroids Tillman smuggled from Mexico when he played for the A's. It was 1986, a year after the Mets traded Tillman and he ended up in Oakland. Bringing the 'juice' Once his steroids confession starts spilling out, Tillman makes it clear he's not naming names like Canseco did. Tillman sees himself as a backup outfielder who knew how to take one for the team. "The code is whatever you do, you're on your own. I'm not going to take you down with me. I didn't get the time that these guys got. But I was one of the lucky ones who got to be around these guys. And I kept my mouth shut." Canseco didn't mention Tillman in his two books and didn't respond to interview requests through his attorney, Gregory Emerson. In his 2008 book Vindicated, Canseco describes getting his first steroids in 1984 from a weight-lifter friend from high school. "I was his first in major leagues," Tillman says. "... I'm the one who started bringing it from Mexico." Tillman said he got the steroids when he'd make extra money playing in a Mexican pro league in the off-season. He started using them after a torn rotator cuff sidelined him. He'd already suffered through a wrist injury, getting so many cortisone shots that his black skin turned white around the injection site. Tillman also had multiple knee surgeries. The steroids were cheap and easy to buy at Mexican pharmacies. And they got results. When Tillman took charter flights back to America, he said no one would check a pro ball player's bags. When his steroids supply ran low, someone he trusted crossed the border and brought him more. The person he named refused to do a Times-Union interview. "It wasn't that I was trying to make money on this," Tillman explains of the 30 to 40 boxes he said he sold for $400 or $500 each. "It was for the family." He took a shot a week, something to give him an edge so he was ready to come off the bench. "A lot of people think it's cheating, but if you don't go out there and perform, they're going to say you're a bum." In March 1987, the A's released Tillman after 11 months and 22 games. His best highlight came off a pitch from Hall of Fame lefty Steve Carlton that he hit out of the park in a game against the White Sox on Sept. 23, 1986. By 1988, Tillman was with the San Francisco Giants, when he hit his second and last home run in the majors. After that, he went back to the minors and was expecting another call-up after a hitting streak. But the call never came. While Tillman said no one ever caught him, accused him or arrested him for steroids, he suspects the game blackballed him for it. "Word might have gotten around that the real Juiceman was here," he said. In the 1990s, Tillman went back to Mexico, helping lead his team in Tabasco to a 1993 championship. In all, he had played 38 games in the majors, 11 seasons in the minors and about six seasons abroad. Tillman says he made maybe a half-million dollars in all and has no regrets about steroids or anything else. "There's a dark side of all of sports. What I done is what I done." Back to work In early August, Tillman got a job in the kitchen of a seafood place in Jacksonville Beach. After more than a year on the streets, there was joy in his voice as he prepared for his first shift. "We'll see how it goes," he said. "I mean, I'm blessed for what I got." JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Rusty Tillman at his campsite in the Mayport area with the portable television he powers off a car battery in his tent. Hugh Palmer, a social worker at the mission where the ex-athlete eats and showers, said Tillman doesn't talk about his past. He said Tillman has an unusual mix of humility and confidence that makes him stand out among his peers. "To see a homeless person that's kind of larger than life, that just goes back to homelessness can happen to anyone," Palmer said. Tillman has plenty of job experience outside of baseball. He's had a few jobs in food service, including cooking for the Jaguars at their downtown stadium last season. In the late 1990s, he worked as a heavy equipment operator in Jacksonville. At the time, he was married to his second wife, Alycia Tillman. The 34-year-old divorcee called her ex-husband, who also has two grown sons from prior relationships, a good provider who worked a second job at Krystal to make extra money. The two of them went to work renovating his grandmother's home on the block he grew up on in Atlantic Beach, after marrying in 1999. It was a few doors from the home where Tillman's late father, a Jacksonville Beach city mechanic, and late mother, a school custodian, raised him, his three brothers and his sister. But Alycia Tillman said her husband started indulging a drug addiction when the two moved back to his hometown. Tillman said he had his own reasons for their split. When a judge granted the uncontested divorce in 2003, a copy of the order he mailed to Tillman came back marked like this: "Tillman moved. Left no address. Unable to forward. Return to sender." In September, Alycia Tillman said she was shocked to hear that her ex was living in the woods. "If I'd known he was in that situation, he could have come to me. If it's not Kerry's way," she said, using Tillman's given name, "he just won't do it. If he can't get it, he doesn't feel he needs it." After a few weeks of restaurant night shifts this summer, Tillman decided he'd rather see Sarah. He was missing those nightly tuck-ins. But a lucky break was coming his way this time. A former Fletcher schoolmate with a plumbing company agreed to hire him. Tillman had been riding his bicycle past Brian Christy's business for months, promising to learn quickly if he took a chance on him. A month ago, Tillman got his call-up. "Rusty knows what having a lot of money in his pocket is about and he also knows what not having any is about," Christy said. "A guy like that, you're not going to beat him down. It's his decision if he's going to get back on top of his game." After work on Sept. 19, Tillman planned to meet Sarah and her mother at Fletcher High School. The three of them were going to dinner to celebrate the toddler's birthday. Before that, Fletcher baseball coach Kevin Brown spotted his former classmate on the diamond. He told Tillman he was thrilled to see him at school, that he should come back and teach the boys how to really hit. Then the coach found a couple of bats. For the first time in years, Tillman stepped onto the field and took a swing. "Oh man, this brings back memories for real," Tillman said. "Oh yeah, I could see myself hitting some. I'd miss a whole bunch. But I'd hit some." bridget.murphy@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4161. Video: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1156018486/bctid1836680060 AG/DC Oct 17 2008 06:29 AM John Stearns makes Hall of Fame at Colorado University, who could use some good pub. Frankly, I'm surprised it's taken this long, considering the proliferation and dubious standards of Halls of Fame, but this does shed some light on one of the most enduring number-related mysteries in Met history. According to this photo, John wore 12 as an All-America defensive back, which could explain half of the 1977 number swap with Lee Mazzilli. Stearns into CU Hall of Fame Posted by GEOFF MORROW, Of The Patriot-News October 16, 2008 Harrisburg Senators manager John Stearns in his college football pose at the University of Colorado. He'll be inducted into the CU Hall of Fame on Friday. Considered one of the most prolific two-sport stars in University of Colorado history, Harrisburg Senators manager John Stearns will be inducted into the Buffaloes' Hall of Fame today in Boulder. Stearns, 57, starred for the Colorado football and baseball teams in the early 1970s. A first-team all-conference selection as a senior safety, Stearns earned the nickname "Bad Dude" as one of the most feared hitters in team history. He still holds the Buffaloes' career record with 16 interceptions and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 1973 NFL draft. But football wasn't even his best game, and he never played a down in the NFL. Stearns earned All-American status in baseball in '73, leading the NCAA in home runs (15) that year. His career numbers at Colorado include a .366 batting average, 26 home runs, 101 RBIs and 48 stolen bases. A catcher, he Stearns was the No. 2 overall pick in the 1973 amateur draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He was traded to the New York Mets after the '74 season and became a four-time National League all-star. After retiring, he became a scout and coach and managed the Senators in 2006 and 2008. In other Senators news, pitching coach Rick Tomlin, who spent the past four years with the Senators, is not returning to the organization, a fact confirmed by Bobby Williams, the Nationals' director of player development. Senators president Kevin Kulp also announced that Dan Watson, the team's secondary radio broadcaster last year, completed his internship in September and is not returning. Kulp said the team will look to hire another media intern, probably in January. For more on Stearns' induction, see Friday's edition of The Patriot-News. John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 17 2008 07:13 AM nice G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:08 AM Steve Henderson coaching his way into the World Series. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy who couldn't have given at least one already long-suffering fan a better Saturday night 28 years ago. ]Henderson missed winning the NL's Rookie of the Year Award by one vote to Montreal's Andre Dawson in 1977 after hitting .297 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI in 350 at-bats. In 1979 he hit .306 and in 1980, his final season in Flushing, he hit .290. It was that year that he had his most memorable day as a Met, and perhaps his most memorable day in baseball -- until Sunday night. On June 14, Henderson picked up his girlfriend Pam at LaGuardia, proposed to her (she accepted and they are still married) and then took her to the ballpark, where he etched his name into Mets lore for something other than being trade bait. In what has come to be called "The Steve Henderson Game," the left fielder stroked a three-run home run to right that capped a five-run, ninth-inning rally, as the previously awful Mets stunned the Giants, 7-6, to move to within a game of .500 and within six games of the Expos in the NL East. "That was a great, great day," Henderson said with a smile. "I'll always remember that one. But these days are pretty good, too." AG/DC Oct 21 2008 10:10 AM I (1) don't remember the proposal angle, which is awesome, and (2) am surprised it's got an eponymous reputation outside of here. G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:12 AM It got a cameo in the Shea Goodbye DVD even. AG/DC Oct 21 2008 10:19 AM I feel like we coined something. G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:20 AM I've been calling it the Steve Henderson Game since probably no later than June 16, 1980. AG/DC Oct 21 2008 10:27 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 21 2008 12:06 PM I just checked the calendar. It turns out that it's Shoot Down AG/DC Day. It came up so fast this year. G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:41 AM I've been calling it that since probably no later than eleven o'clock this morning. metirish Oct 21 2008 10:56 AM ="G-Fafif"]Steve Henderson coaching his way into the World Series. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy who couldn't have given at least one already long-suffering fan a better Saturday night 28 years ago. ]Henderson missed winning the NL's Rookie of the Year Award by one vote to Montreal's Andre Dawson in 1977 after hitting .297 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI in 350 at-bats. In 1979 he hit .306 and in 1980, his final season in Flushing, he hit .290. It was that year that he had his most memorable day as a Met, and perhaps his most memorable day in baseball -- until Sunday night. On June 14, Henderson picked up his girlfriend Pam at LaGuardia, proposed to her (she accepted and they are still married) and then took her to the ballpark, where he etched his name into Mets lore for something other than being trade bait. In what has come to be called "The Steve Henderson Game," the left fielder stroked a three-run home run to right that capped a five-run, ninth-inning rally, as the previously awful Mets stunned the Giants, 7-6, to move to within a game of .500 and within six games of the Expos in the NL East. "That was a great, great day," Henderson said with a smile. "I'll always remember that one. But these days are pretty good, too." Nice article on Henderson , can't say I knew much about him before now so thnaks for that. Farmer Ted Oct 21 2008 12:00 PM God, how did I miss Henderson with the Rays? Who else didn't know? AG/DC Oct 21 2008 12:13 PM The funny thing about the Joe Torre era is, despite how much they struggled to get their heads aobve water, how static a roster they had. G-Fafif Oct 22 2008 07:26 AM ="AG/DC":5nmwi48e]The funny thing about the Joe Torre era is, despite how much they struggled to get their heads aobve water, how static a roster they had.[/quote:5nmwi48e] Thinking about this observation in the context of my visceral over-the-top enthusiasm on September 28 when Doug Flynn was introduced. Next to Doc and Fonzie, two Mets I'd been waiting forever for to come home, I wasn't more elated to see anybody in a Mets jersey than Doug Flynn. It was bigger than Willie Mays to me, I think. That probably owes to the fact that those lousy teams from '77 to '80, the core of them anyway, stayed together. Those were our guys in (in my case) junior high and high school. Those were the guys we argued on behalf of, if only in our heads: Flynn, Hendu, Mazz, Blood, Swannie, Dude. They weren't very good but they were always there. Showing up counts. It's the difference (along with the perspective of age and expectation) between those lousy teams and the later lousy teams. There was more movement in the early '90s. It's the way the industry worked then, and you'd have been crazy to have hoped Vince Coleman would have hung around one second longer than he had to. By the lousy teams of '02-'04, there was nothing charming about it, certainly not if you'd lived through other dark eras. Maybe someday somebody who was a kid in 2003 will leap to his feet for an Old Timers introduction of Ty Wigginton. Ah, who am I kidding? I'll leap to my feet for an Old Timers introduction of Ty Wigginton. metirish Oct 27 2008 06:48 AM Koosman ] WHERE ARE THEY NOW? JERRY KOOSMAN BY JIM BAUMBACH | jim.baumbach@newsday.com October 26, 2008 Jerry Koosman hasn't followed the Tampa Bay Rays all that much this season, so he only recently became aware that people are comparing their stunning run to the World Series to the '69 Mets. But even though the former Mets lefthander might not be able to name many of the Tampa Bay players, he sure knows all about what these 20-somethings on the Rays are going through right now. And if the Rays are anything like those Miracle Mets, then they're not looking at this World Series against the Phillies as a chance to prove their worth to America. Because the Mets definitely didn't feel that way. "We felt we proved that we could win," Koosman said, "by getting to the World Series." But once there, the pressure of playing on the big stage definitely was intense. "The World Series was just a new endeavor, something none of us had ever experienced before," said Koosman, who allowed four runs and seven hits in 17 2/3 innings in winning Games 2 and 5. "So every day brought something new, like a different person singing the national anthem." Just like the '69 Mets, the Rays split the first two games of the World Series, losing the first and winning the second. Koosman said he approached Game 2 much differently from a normal game. "Personally, I went out there with a fear of losing," he said. "I just didn't want to lose. I didn't want to be taken out of the ballgame. I didn't want to be pinch hit for. I didn't want to be behind, whatever. I was just really fearful of losing and pitched my butt off because of that. "And in the back of my mind, I had a goal of pitching a perfect game." Seriously? "I certainly was thinking that," he said. Koosman wasn't perfect that day, but he was close enough. He took a no-hitter into the seventh and lasted 8 2/3 innings before Ron Taylor got the final out in the Mets' 2-1 win over the Orioles. Now 65 years old and living in a small Wisconsin suburb about an hour from Minneapolis, Koosman made a point of watching the Rays last week. He said the biggest similarity he noticed between their team and his was the young pitching staffs, especially the starters. The Mets' starters in the World Series were Koosman (26), Tom Seaver (24) and Gary Gentry (23). The Rays' starters are James Shields (26), Andy Sonnanstine (25), Matt Garza (24) and Scott Kazmir (24). The two teams' histories also are similar. In their first seven seasons of existence, the Mets had an average record of 56-105. After going 73-89 in 1968, they were 100-62 in 1969 and won the World Series. In its first 10 years of existence, Tampa Bay had an average record of 65-97. Then the Rays followed a 66-96 2007 season by going 97-65. If history repeats itself, the Rays will not lose again. In '69, the Mets won the series in five games, the last four in a row after losing the first in Baltimore. Koosman pitched Game 5, and he said he felt even more pressure to win that game than Game 2. "You could just sense how great it would be to win in New York and not go back to Baltimore," he said. "That was the main talk in the clubhouse and during batting practice. By the time the game started, each of us, I think, put enough pressure on ourselves. The outside pressure didn't matter anymore." Singer/actress Pearl Bailey, who sang the national anthem that day, approached Koosman just before he started his warmups. "She told me she saw the number eight and forecasted we would win," he said. "She didn't know what the number eight meant, but we won, 5-3." AG/DC Oct 27 2008 07:14 AM How has Jerry occupied himself in retirement? Benjamin Grimm Oct 27 2008 07:30 AM My guess: Golf! AG/DC Oct 27 2008 07:36 AM Well, I was thinking more about income-generating occupation. Has he kept the family farm going? Besides, I'm guessing that the golf in Minnesoata isn't top-notch. Benjamin Grimm Oct 27 2008 08:25 AM Well, he's almost 66 years old. I hope, for his sake, that he's happily retired by now. AG/DC Oct 27 2008 08:45 AM Well, I'm in the present perfect tense here, wondering how he's occupied himself in the interim, since his release by the Philllies. G-Fafif Oct 27 2008 08:51 AM It doesn't speak to his present occupation, but I got a big kick out of Kooz two years ago when SNY brought him and Mookie to town as part of a big pep rally prior to the postseason and Matt Yallof asked him to describe what it was like pitching in New York in October and Jerry took the question literally and described how the cool weather was very helpful. What a great Midwestern answer. metirish Oct 27 2008 09:31 AM Jerry had the open heart surgery a few years back IIRC. AG/DC Oct 27 2008 06:21 PM Straight outa Compton. The Duke Of Flatbush: The Story Of Duke Snider by Isaac Barrow (Senior Writer) Duke Snider is one of the best Dodgers ever to play the game. He played for the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers from 1947 to 1962. He played left field and is one of the best power hitters in baseball history... Duke Snider is one of the best Dodgers ever to play the game. He played for the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers from 1947 to 1962. He played left field and is one of the best power hitters in baseball history. Edwin Donald Snider was born on Sept. 19, 1926 in Los Angeles. Snider was a two-sport athlete, playing football and baseball, which he ended up pretty good at (just thought I'd put it out there). He attended Compton High School from 1940 to 1943. As a baseball player, he was spotted by a Branch Rickey scout and was immediately signed to a minor league contract. He played for the Montreal Royals in 1944, but had just two at bats. In 1945, he was drafted and 1946 would be his first season in professional baseball. He played for Fort Worth that year and in 1947 played for St. Paul. He played quite well there and after starting 1948 for Montreal and tearing it up, he was called up to the Dodgers for good. Snider never made a lot of money in the bigs: "My high salary was 46,000 dollars and a Cadillac." In 1949, he made that step up. He hit 23 home runs, drove in 92 and had a .292 batting clip. Snider had an amazing 1950 season, hitting .321 with 30 one home runs and 107 runs knocked in. The next year, Snider folded under pressure as he saw his average dip 40 four points. "I told (Walter) O'Malley I wanted a trade. I couldn't take the pressure anymore." Snider, being the mentally tough guy he was, adapted. He hit .303 with 21 homers the next year and got management back on his side. The mid 50's were his glory days. He hit 40 or more home runs in five consecutive seasons (1953-57) and averaged 42 home runs, 124 RBI, 123 runs and a .320 batting average between 1953-1956. He dipped dramatically from 1958 to 1964. In 1958, he had 15 home runs and just 58 RBI, but still hit.312 on the season. When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, his fold under pressure became evident. In his remaining years with the Dodgers, his career high in homers was just 23. His career low in Brooklyn was 21. In 1963, Duke played for the Mets. He struggled and wasn't the slugger he was expected to be. He had 14 home runs, 45 RBI and a .243 batting average. On Opening Day of 1964, the Giants picked him up. He was obviously washed up. He had four home runs, 17 RBI and an anemic .210 batting average. 31 years later in 1995, two Hall of Famers: Snider and Willie McCovey pleaded guilty to tax fraud. Snider failed to report income from sports memorabilia sales and sports card shows. In 1980, Snider was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He finished his career with 407 home runs, 1,333 RBI and a .295 batting clip. Since Johnny Podres died in January, Snider is the only living Dodger who was on the field for the 1955 World Series. What I think is funny is how much of a joke he thinks baseball is today. He is sick of the millionaires in baseball. He said, "Man, if I made a million dollars, I'd come at six in the morning, sweep the stands, wash the uniforms, clean out the office, manage the team and play the games." What do you say to that, Manny? MFS62 Oct 28 2008 07:52 AM And not one mention about how, after he retired, Snider went on to be one of the biggest (in terms of crop volume) avacado growers in the country? Later AG/DC Oct 28 2008 07:59 AM It's admittedly a pretty weak piece for a guy tagged as a "senior writer." He gets three quotes from Snider --- wow, old timers are jealous of rich latter day players and think they're prima donnas; shocker! --- and seems to paste the rest togeher from wikipedia or the paper's obits-of-the-future file. He goes chronologically through the career, but his post-career detail includes a one-sentence paragraph about 1995 and then back to 1980. Barely C- work. You get a Hall-of-Famer on the phone, get some juice. Get him to fill in some historical detail that's not on the record. How about calling Manny Ramirez for a rebuttal? HahnSolo Oct 28 2008 09:11 AM Help me with my Duke knowledge. Wasn't he a Center fielder? why does the writer call him a left fielder in the open? AG/DC Oct 28 2008 09:18 AM Good point. The writer seems to be in an unswerving devotion to failing his reader. Snider broke in as a utility outfielder but never played left primarily. He might have landed there, but he quickly took over center when Pete Reiser battered himself into obscurity by running into outfield walls. He played a lot of right at the end of his career, but anybody who knows a bit about the guy would call him a centerfieder. G-Fafif Oct 28 2008 09:31 AM If Snider weren't a centerfielder, Terry Cashman would have written "Willie, Mickey and Whoever Flanked The Duke". Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 07:57 AM Rick White, getting in shape: Springfield News-Sun Ex-Ray, Phillie won't take sides Springfield's Rick White had stops in Tampa Bay and Philadelphia during his 13-year MLB career. By David Jablonski Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD � People ask Rick White all the time, "Do you miss the game?" It's a natural question to pose to a pitcher who appeared in 613 Major League Baseball games for 11 teams over a 13-year period. At this time of year, as he watches two of his former teams play each other in the World Series, the Springfield resident White can expect to hear the question even more often. "I don't miss anything but the game itself," White said on Tuesday, Oct. 28. "I miss being out there competing. I wish I was in one of those bullpens waiting for the phone to ring." White played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 1998, the year the expansion team entered the league, until July 2000 when he was traded to the Mets. In his 2� seasons in Tampa Bay, he compiled a 3.81 ERA in 248 innings. He still ranks eighth in franchise history in games pitched (145). None of the current Rays were with the team when White played for them, but he did play with assistant coaches Dave Martinez (1998-2000) and Tom Foley (with Pittsburgh in 1994). From 2001-07, Tampa Bay ranked last in AL attendance every season. But in its first two seasons, it ranked in the middle of the pack, and White remembers the early years for the franchise as an exciting time. "It was a lot of fun to be a part of that, to be part of something new," he said. "In my first three years, we had teams that were good enough to win. We just couldn't put the pieces together. We weren't able to stop those big losing streaks." White pitched for the Phillies in 2006, compiling a 4.34 ERA in 38 relief appearances. He threw well enough to come away with positive impressions of the notorious Phillies fans. Watching the games over the last week, White said he's not rooting for one team. "I've got a bunch of friends on both teams," he said. "Obviously, the Phillies haven't won it in a long time. It'd be nice for them to win it. I like the National League game better, but I would be fine with whoever won this one." White has not pitched since the end of the 2007 season. For the first time in his life, he was able to take his family on a summer vacation this year. Still, he hasn't given up on baseball. He plans to meet with some general managers after this season about getting into coaching or scouting. He also plans to get his arm in shape � just in case. "I highly doubt it, but my agent says to go ahead and work out and stay in shape," White said. "If somebody is interested, I'll try out. If not, I'll be in shape to throw batting practice." G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 07:59 AM When did Edgy DC come out of retirement? Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 08:07 AM Had to fly my Rube Walker flag. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 08:38 AM Not that there's ever a bad day for it, but any particular reason today is Rube Walker Appreciation Day? Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 08:51 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 29 2008 09:13 AM AG/DC is still working his way through Metly posting levels, while my alter ego Edgy DC, having surpassed 11,000, posts retains the permanent posting designation of his choice --- Rube Walker. When I saw Zvon had created a new avatar for that designation, I had to switch back to Edgy. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 08:54 AM Thank you for indulging the question. It's a very nice avatar. Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 08:54 AM It strikes me that, among multiple posting names here, at the old Crane Pool, and at the MOFo, I probably have over 100,000 posts, and have goofed off more than any internet poster in Metdom. Benjamin Grimm Oct 29 2008 09:08 AM My post total is second to yours, but I never reset myself to zero. My 20,000 or so posts includes the ezBoard totals as well as my name change. I think your biggest competition for all-time post leader might be Scarlett/Cookie Mom/metfairy/Inside Pitcher... Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 09:14 AM Scarlet put in a six-month retirement, but she certainly pre-dated me at the MOFo. I don't know how many handles she worked there. She also had a career at Grand Slam Single. Vic Sage Oct 29 2008 09:33 AM ah, yes, the GSS. I was banned there... a distinction i wear with honor. I don't even remember why. I think i tried to incite an insurrection against their overbearing administrators. SteveJRogers Oct 29 2008 09:44 AM ="Vic Sage":1f3jzt7s]ah, yes, the GSS. I was banned there... a distinction i wear with honor. I don't even remember why. I think i tried to incite an insurrection against their overbearing administrators.[/quote:1f3jzt7s] GSS is spoken of in the same terms quite often over at the MOFO. Kind of feel sorry I missed out on all that fun. metsguyinmichigan Oct 29 2008 09:58 AM As a relative newby, may I must ask what the MOFo is? Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 10:03 AM Mets Online Forum. This forum was established largely in response to a downclick in the level of discourse there. That's right, once we were trying to set a standard. Willets Point Oct 29 2008 10:07 AM MetsOnline itself was a fan-built website in the mid-90's that predated the Mets having a website. MetsOnline was killed by a cease & desist in 2002, although I think there may still be a bulletin board out there where they're calling themselves the MOFO. Benjamin Grimm Oct 29 2008 11:28 AM It sounds like Steve was talking about it in the present tense. SteveJRogers Oct 29 2008 12:34 PM I was referring to the BB that Willets mentioned. Several of the posters on the current MOFO were on GSS (yet another Met forum named after Ventura's infamous game winning hit in Game 5 1999 NLCS of course), and got the boot in the same fashion as Vic mentioned, for pretty much the same reasons. Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 12:43 PM Infamous? Are you a Braves fan? Steve seems to know more about the history of this place than I do, and I don't know hardly anything about him. Benjamin Grimm Oct 29 2008 12:51 PM Yeah, really. I wouldn't put Robin Ventura's game-winning shot in the same category as Pearl Harbor. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 04:15 PM ="Benjamin Grimm"]Yeah, really. I wouldn't put Robin Ventura's game-winning shot in the same category as Pearl Harbor. October 17, 1999: A date which will live in famy. A Boy Named Seo Oct 29 2008 04:21 PM Rogers was either going with the popular, but controversial Lucky Day/El Guapo definition of "infamous", or he's just gettin' all Chipper J. Jeets[/url:1drkl6im] on us. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 04:26 PM Steve's been everywhere, man... seawolf17 Oct 29 2008 05:39 PM ="A Boy Named Seo":1gbomtrk]Rogers was either going with the popular, but controversial Lucky Day/El Guapo definition of "infamous"[/quote:1gbomtrk] Hilarious. "Jefe? Do you know what is a plethora? Well, you told me I have a plethora. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has no idea what it means to have a plethora." One of the best movies ever. Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 05:45 PM Well, maybe one of the best million films ever. I can go for that. Kong76 Oct 29 2008 06:17 PM EDC: Steve seems to know more about the history of this place than I do, and I don't know hardly anything about him <<< StevieJStalker sees all! Frayed Knot Oct 29 2008 07:39 PM ="SteveJRogers":2nu9sgsu]Several of the posters on the current MOFO were on GSS and got the boot in the same fashion as Vic mentioned, for pretty much the same reasons.[/quote:2nu9sgsu] What Vic did to got booted (and me IIRC) had nothing to do with what others did. Edgy DC Oct 30 2008 10:58 AM Dan Reilly, knew when to keep his mouth shut. Check out the piping on ihs original uni. Villager photo by Will McKinley Dan Reilly, the original Mr. Met, at Shea Stadium recently. Reilly with his Mr. Met baseball head back in the mid-1960s when he was the team�s mascot at home games. Mr. Met recalls heady times as first mascot for Amazin�s By WILL McKINLEY Dozens of Mets legends were honored at Shea Stadium�s closing ceremony last month, from Tom Seaver to Mike Piazza and all the lesser lights in between. But one seminal figure in the team�s history was conspicuous by his absence. Dan Reilly, the first man to wear the costume of iconic mascot Mr. Met, watched the bittersweet festivities at home on TV like an ordinary fan. But the longtime Soho resident and author of the new book �The Original Mr. Met Remembers,� is anything but. �I�m disappointed they didn�t invite me back, but I�m not angry,� said Reilly, who played the Mets mascot on and off the field from 1964 through 1967, the first three of his nine years with the club. �Seaver, Koosman, Swoboda, all those guys were my buddies. And I figured they�d like to see me again, too, just to say hello, a few handshakes, keep in touch. They all still call me Mr. Met.� Now 70 and retired, Reilly�s ties with the team go back to Shea�s inaugural season, when he joined the Mets ticket sales staff two months before the debut of their new home. �It was a snowy February morning the day of my interview,� Reilly said last week, as he walked the grounds of the soon-to-be-demolished stadium. �From the outside, it looked like an orange-and-blue skeleton. Nothing was happening and nobody was around. Inside, they were still putting the seats in. And now I�m watching them take those seats out. It�s sad.� Sadness is not an emotion readily associated with Reilly, a jovial, outgoing raconteur who worked in the restaurant business after leaving the Mets in 1972, and recently concluded a four-year stint as the host of game-day ferry rides to Shea. On boat or barstool, the Richmond Hill, Queens, native spins colorful tales of the early days of the Amazin� Mets with a hearty laugh and, on this occasion, a misty eye. �We were a small organization back then, no superstars,� said Reilly, clad in a Mets jersey and still using �we� and �us� when referring to the team he left 36 years ago. �I drank with those guys. I knew where all the good Irish bars in Queens were. And I knew when to keep my mouth shut. That�s why everyone liked me.� Reilly was front and center for nearly all of the significant events of the team�s first decade: Shea�s first opening day; the 1964 All-Star Game; Casey Stengel�s on-field 75th birthday celebration and the infamous after-party at Toots Shor�s, where the legendary manager broke his hip and ended his career; the arrival of 1967 Rookie of the Year Seaver; the managerial tenure of Reilly�s boyhood idol Gil Hodges and, most memorably, the Miracle Mets World Series victory on Oct. 16, 1969. �As soon as that game was over, I ran from the press box down to the clubhouse,� Reilly said 39 years and one day later, as he traced the trajectory from the top of the stadium to the bottom with his finger. �There�s a picture of me in the 1970 yearbook, being doused with champagne by Jerry Grote. Those were my guys. They were the best.� In addition to his daily responsibilities, first in ticket sales and later in the promotions department, Reilly also served as the V.I.P. handler for visiting celebrities and politicians, ran the Mets Speakers Bureau program and filled in as public address announcer at Shea for three weeks in 1966. He also wished four members of a British rock band good luck as they ran on to the field for an August 1965 concert. �I said, �Break a leg, guys,� and one of them said, �Thanks mate!�� Reilly remembered. �I don�t know which one it was because I didn�t know who The Beatles were back then.� But Reilly�s fondest memories began on May 31, 1964, when he donned the papier-m�ch�, baseball-shaped head of the first mascot in Major League Baseball history. The Mets lost both sides of a doubleheader that day to the Giants, whose defection to California with the Brooklyn Dodgers after the 1957 season inspired attorney Bill Shea�s successful crusade to bring National League baseball back to New York. But, between games of that doubleheader, a star was born. �The stadium was packed and I was nervous,� Reilly said with a laugh. �They had told me to play it straight, just walk out there and wave, but the kids started swarming down to meet me in the stands. I shook hands, posed for pictures, signed autographs. After that, I got cocky and started dancing. It was an instant hit. Back then, the fans might not have recognized the players, but they always recognized Mr. Met.� As Reilly remembered the glories of four decades past, he struck up a conversation with a current Mets fan, 48-year-old software engineer Mark Szemberski, who was snapping photos of the now-shuttered stadium. �Of all people to meet, the last time I�m at Shea � Mr. Met!� Szemberski exclaimed, as he posed for a picture with the unlikely celebrity. �You made my day. I hope they invite you back when they open the new stadium.� Reilly handed Szemberski his business card, which features a photo of his younger self in a regulation Mets uniform, holding the outsized head that made him famous. The original Mr. Met is smiling broadly, as always. �Baseball is tradition,� Reilly said, as he bid final farewell to Shea from a departing 7 train. �Mr. Met touched people then, and he still does. I think it�s important to remember how we used to do it, what Shea used to be like. If we do, there will always be a Shea Stadium.� �The Original Mr. Met Remembers: When the Miracle Began� (138 pages) is available at iUniverse.com. HahnSolo Oct 30 2008 11:22 AM The uniform on the right suggests that photo is from '86 (racing stripes and anniversary logo), not from the early sixties. (I see Edgy beat me to that). soupcan Oct 30 2008 11:23 AM Yeah - something's wrong there. Benjamin Grimm Oct 30 2008 11:38 AM I'd guess that in 1986 he was just visiting with his old head. seawolf17 Oct 30 2008 12:07 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":36b19cxk]I'd guess that in 1986 he was just visiting with his old head.[/quote:36b19cxk] Possibly for a 25th anniversary event, which would make sense. Edgy DC Nov 03 2008 02:40 PM The High-A Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino (real name!) have announced their coaching staff, including John Valentin as batting coach and Charlie Hough as pitching coach. I confused Hough with Verne Ruhle and thought he was dead. Edgy DC Nov 10 2008 02:45 PM Candidates being looked at for the Seattle managerial job include Jose Oquendo, the prototype for Rey Ordoñez; Joey Cora, who managed for the Mets in the minors, and Randy Ready, who has one of the porniest names in baseball history. sharpie Nov 11 2008 11:36 AM Soon we can enjoy the literary stylings of Mike Piazza: Mike Piazza, a 12-time All Star for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets, has signed a deal to write his autobiography for Simon & Schuster. V-p and senior editor Bob Bender acquired world rights from David Black, CEO of Black Inc., and Dan Lozano, Piazza�s sports agent. Publication is slated for 2010. In the book, Piazza, who retired just before the 2008 season, will discuss controversies of his career, including the 2000 World Series incident when Roger Clemens threw a shattered bat at him, and the press conference he held to deny rumors that he was gay. The autobiography will also cover Piazza�s tumultuous relationships with the Dodgers, their front office and Tommy Lasorda; as well as his former teammates Bobby Valentine, Pedro Martinez, Rickey Henderson and others. Edgy DC Nov 11 2008 11:40 AM He actually retired well into the 2008 season when he hadn't gotten interest from anybody. And Bobby Valentine wasn't his teammate. Who writes press releases these days? John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 11 2008 11:47 AM Who cares. I'm going to read the hell out of that book. Edgy DC Nov 11 2008 11:52 AM If'n I were you, I contact that agent NOW!!!! and show him your writin' credentials. Benjamin Grimm Nov 11 2008 11:55 AM Good thought. Writing the hell out of the book would be even better than reading the hell out of it. HahnSolo Nov 11 2008 12:19 PM Knowing the publishing industry as I do, I can tell you that acquiring editor had absolutely no interest in the writin' credentials in the manuscript and cared primarily about the name on page 1. Benjamin Grimm Nov 11 2008 12:21 PM So Piazza now shops around for a ghost, I suppose? I figure he'll go with a sportswriter he had a good relationship with during his playing days. G-Fafif Nov 11 2008 12:23 PM Or a David Frum/Michael Gershon otherwise underemployed wordsmith of the right. Mike goes that way. HahnSolo Nov 11 2008 12:25 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":r3mb7fqz]So Piazza now shops around for a ghost, I suppose? I figure he'll go with a sportswriter he had a good relationship with during his playing days.[/quote:r3mb7fqz] I doubt Piazza does the shopping unless there's a writer he was really close to and insists on using him. Otherwise, I expect the literary agent would work with the publisher to find someone. Edgy DC Nov 11 2008 12:28 PM Which is fucking why you should be acting NOW!!!! G-Fafif Nov 11 2008 12:30 PM I'm Richie Hebner for another eight posts or so. I'm not going out of my way to pick up any ground balls for a little while. sharpie Nov 11 2008 12:32 PM David Black, the agent, reps many bigtime sportswriters (including Mitch Albom of "Tuesdays With Morrie" fame). Piazza would have already come attached with a writer by the time the deal was made. Benjamin Grimm Nov 11 2008 12:32 PM I don't want to stir up an ugly intramural competition, but GFafif should also throw his hat in the ring. G-Fafif Nov 11 2008 12:40 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":3prysgfg]I don't want to stir up an ugly intramural competition, but GFafif should also throw his hat in the ring.[/quote:3prysgfg] Thanks, but first I have to finish my "as told to myself" thing. After I stop being Richie Hebner. Edgy DC Nov 12 2008 10:23 AM Former Pitchers Leading Today's Brogna News: Hideo Nomo, teaching the forkball to young buffalos. Frank Viola, getting into the analyst game. Tom Seaver, advising the youth of today and liquoring up Tommy Davis. John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 12 2008 10:41 AM Read also where Leiter was joining the staff at MLB-TV. I guess that means he's leaving the NO! network. Edgy DC Nov 13 2008 08:14 AM So, if you're like me, you grew sick of stories of Lenny Dykstra, swinging finance trader, about two paragraphs into the first one, but now the angle isn't that he's just another player, but that he's actually flourishing during these hard times. The claim is that he's 82-0 in stock picks endorsed in his newsletter. Edgy DC Nov 13 2008 01:36 PM Rick Sweet returning as manager of the Louisville Bats. Local favorite Roger Mason joins the Traverse City Beach Bums as pitching coach. John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 13 2008 01:38 PM Ron Gardenhire gets an extension. Leiter btw, will still work for Al-Yankazeera. Reynolds tho is out at SNY, raising speculation that Bobby Ojeda is on his way in. I think I speak for everyone ever by saying it would be nice to mix a 73er or 99-00er in there. TransMonk Nov 13 2008 01:42 PM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket":1jn4n2h7]I think I speak for everyone ever by saying it would be nice to mix a 73er or 99-00er in there.[/quote:1jn4n2h7] Didn't Zeile get a shot once? Benjamin Grimm Nov 13 2008 01:44 PM I was thinking a 69er: Ron Swoboda. Edgy DC Nov 13 2008 05:02 PM Sam Perlozzo joins the Phils. Bang. metsguyinmichigan Nov 13 2008 11:01 PM ="Edgy DC":828l4i24]Rick Sweet returning as manager of the Louisville Bats. Local favorite Roger Mason joins the Traverse City Beach Bums as pitching coach.[/quote:828l4i24] Traverse City is a beautiful resort area about two hours north of me. The team is fairly new, and plays in an independent league. We used to play in an all-newspaper softball tournament in Traverse, and it was fun until the Detroit News took it over and started stacking its team with ringers who didn't work for the paper. Cads! I'll have to head up this summer and see a game and talk to Mason! Edgy DC Nov 14 2008 10:19 AM Holy Foli, Batman, it's Sammy Drake! In a Mets hat! An old friendship, forged 50 years ago, is rekindled AUGUSTA -- It was the New York Mets cap on his head. This being Red Sox country, people had to stop the athletic, older man this week and ask. "What's up with the hat?" That's when C. Wayne Mitchell glanced at his guest and stepped in. "This is Sammy Drake. Don't you know who he is?" No one did, to the amusement of both men. "He's an original member of the Mets," Mitchell would tell them. "He's my friend." It's a friendship forged nearly 50 years ago, interrupted by decades of separation and searching by Mitchell and resumed about four years ago. Mitchell's family, aware of his wish to reconnect, trolled the Internet, finding Drake at a Mets reunion in New Jersey. Sunday, Drake came to Mitchell's home in Sidney for a four-day visit. They laughed and joked and marveled again at the strength of a relationship neither fully understood when it began on a hot U.S. Army base in the deep south at a time when full integration was still a dream. Drake was a draftee from Little Rock, Ark. trying to keep alive his dream of playing major league baseball while he was serving his country. Mitchell was the 7-year-old son of a career soldier returned from duty in Germany and new to the Georgia base. That summer, the young boy discovered the Fort Gordon Rams and a young, talented infielder who asked Mitchell if he wanted to be the bat boy. "I could see he was interested in baseball," said Drake during lunch at a local restaurant Wednesday. Drake remembered when he fell in love with the game. The two played catch. Sometimes, Mitchell would go the base recreation center where Drake worked. They were so different in age and in race. Then, Mitchell was too young to understand what it meant to be a young black adult in Georgia. Drake, of course, did. A year or two after meeting, Mitchell's father was transferred to Taiwan. Mitchell got a baseball glove, a bat, a handshake, and much later, when he could fully understand, an outlook on life. "Of all the hello's and good-bye's, his was the one I remember most," said Mitchell, while Drake nodded. "I knew a thank-you would be in order." Mitchell's story to this point became a column I wrote four years ago. Then, I couldn't reach Drake who had returned to his home in Los Angeles. Wednesday, at lunch, I introduced myself. Meeting Mitchell wasn't a coincidence, Drake said. There was a reason that maybe still isn't clear 50 years later. Drake was surprised, but not stunned when Mitchell walked up to his table at the hotel where the Mets reunion and autograph session took place. He's met a lot of people in his 74 years and has usually found the goodness in them, even under trying circumstances. "At first I thought he as a typical fan," Drake said. "When he started talking about Fort Gordon I knew right away." Drake can't say he thought about Mitchell much over the years. Neither did he forget the young bat boy who would go to the gym to fold towels and stay out of the way of the soldiers.� "He would get picked on by the ballplayers a little bit. It was all in fun, but I could see it bothered him. I'd say, come with me. Let's play catch." Drake signed with the Chicago Cubs for $1,500 and was later assigned to Macon, Ga. to play for Pepper Martin in the so-called Sally League. He was the first African-American to play in the league he says. The most hurtful part of that season? "Not being able to sleep in the same hotels with my teammates. Not being able to eat with them. I could get carry-out or go across the river to a (black-owned restaurant.)" In the next breath, Drake tells of Martin's effort to get him seated with the team at a restaurant in Indiana. Martin, nicknamed the Wild Horse of the Osage, was a third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals' "Gashouse Gang" in the 1930s and colorblind. Drake remembers one of his first trips to spring training with the Cubs after his two years in the Army. He was one of three black ballplayers in a group of 50 minor leaguers were assigned to a barracks-style building. "Every night I would pray. They must have thought I was from another planet. "But I had a good spring training. When camp broke, everyone was on their knees praying but two." Monday, Mitchell and Drake had breakfast with Roger Katz, the mayor of Augusta and a baseball fan. Katz invited Drake to speak to the city council that night. He told the story of a Cubs tryout he attended in Winnipeg, Manitoba and the sore arm he had. He couldn't throw across the infield. Discouraged, he called the grandmother who raised him. Don't worry, he was told. She would pray for him. "We had a big snowstorm," said Drake smiling. "We couldn't use the field for two weeks. I soaked my arm in the bath tub every day. I was ready." The Mets drafted him off the Cubs roster. His two-year, major league career was the proverbial cup of coffee. In 53 games he hit .153. His older brother, Solly, played parts of three seasons with the Cubs, Phillies and Dodgers. Together, they were the first African-American brothers to play major league baseball. Early Thursday morning, Drake said good-bye to Mitchell and his wife, Bonnie, and began his trip back to Los Angeles. A graduate of Philander Smith College in Little Rock, he's a retired investigator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He teaches Sunday School at the Greater Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, where his brother, the Rev. Dr. Solomon Drake, is pastor to a 6,000-member congregation. They've listened to the story of how a young white boy and a young black adult became lasting friends. It shouldn't be forgotten. Edgy DC Nov 19 2008 10:38 AM Jack Aker, out of work and vulnerable like the rest of us. This old ballplayer understands life better than most by Rabbi Ben Kamin, Spiritual Life Examiner Jack Aker, a name known to aficionados of the national pastime, is something of a legend. But if his baseball card could talk, you�d hear a lot more than breezy play-by-play. Here�s a guy who made more appearances (495) as a relief pitcher than anybody in his time, but found himself taken out of the game quite before he expected. Like anybody suddenly not doing the thing we�ve been doing forever, Jack found himself looking down the abyss�he was tearful, anxious, and despondent. Baseball players are real people, in spite of the hype we impose on them, and their souls hurt, their spirits droop, just like all hard-working Americans. Jack won the Sporting News �Fireman of the Year� award in 1966 and played for the Kansas City and then Oakland Athletics, the Seattle Pilots, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, and New York Mets. When I met him some years ago, he was pitching coach of the Cleveland Indians; I caught my breath short, extending and receiving hands of friendship with a living and breathing major leaguer who was on a first-name basis with such stars as Phil Niekro and Tom Seaver. I saw him at his tallest. Arriving on the green natural field before game time, Jack came for me, in full regalia�snappy cap and shimmering team jacket. He walked across fresh, chalky baselines with a certain, lanky royalty. There were the first faint smells of popcorn and beer from the bowels from the bowels of the old stadium as the coach escorted me into the clubhouse. Jack took me into a comfortably large room filled with open booths that served as repositories for the players. �Here,� he declared, �we meet and discuss the game plan.� Like a knothole sentry, he walked past the colognes and hair dryers of the bath area towards a large bin containing thick, polished baseball bats. He said, somberly: �Nobody can touch a man�s bat. You see, Ben, they are numbered according to his uniform number. The bat is a very personal matter to a guy. Nobody can touch it.� I understood what a sacrilege was and I shook my head in awe of power and success. A little over a year later, following a season of fallen expectations and profits, Jack (and the team manager) were both summarily dismissed from their positions. Now, this same Jack, record-holder, my invincible hero, sat in the front of my automobile, shoulders slumped, his head in his hands. We were taking a ride in the country as the venerable coach tried to sort things out. His prestige, his income, and his self-image were suddenly as powdery as the faded chalk lines of that emerald ball field he had once ruled. Jack was gone, the manager was gone, as well as a number of the muscular, sleek, swaggering players I had met that shining afternoon�in a different season. A person is so much more than his baseball card, her resume, his cellular list of �contacts.� Jack is doing okay, taking in his children and grandchildren, knowing well what it means to be laid off, discarded, discontinued. Maybe this old ballplayer understands America right now better than most. MFS62 Nov 19 2008 11:00 AM Thank you, Edgy. Anyone who ever lost a job knows that you didn't have to bold that portion. We would have noticed it and commiserated(sp?) with Jack. But the way it was said was an unexpected pleasure in a piece like that, wasn't it? Later Edgy DC Nov 19 2008 11:03 AM I was just imitating the original publishing, which set it as a pullquote. Farmer Ted Nov 19 2008 12:07 PM Tim Foli will return to manage Washington's Class AAA affiliate in 2009. Met Hunter Nov 19 2008 10:37 PM John Stearns will be back managing the Nats AA team in Harrisburg as well. Benjamin Grimm Nov 20 2008 06:14 AM Tim Bogar was among three who interviewed for a spot on the Phillies coaching staff. The problem is, they thought they were interviewing Doug Flynn. Edgy DC Nov 21 2008 10:06 AM John Nunnaly, batting coach with the Columbus Clippers. Edgy DC Nov 23 2008 08:56 PM Jeff Innis, Cape Cod League Hall-of-Famer. Edgy DC Nov 28 2008 11:45 AM Tim Bogar formally accepts the Red Sox offer to coach first. John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 28 2008 12:37 PM The last 5 or 6 messages belong in that other thread. Edgy DC Dec 04 2008 10:34 AM I consider coaching jobs part of retirement. Rico's was a coaching job. I hear you, though. Nonetheless, I'm sticking with it for one more thread, as Joe McEwing takes over the Winston-Salem Former Warthogs. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 04 2008 10:43 AM Just for that it's my duty to report that Jason Hardtke has been named hitting coach of the Missoula Osprey (Dbaggs -Pioneer League). The Baggs also named Brett Butler manager of the Reno Aces (PCL). G-Fafif Dec 04 2008 01:04 PM I once received a letter letting me know Brett Butler would come and speak to my employees and motivate them with his life experiences and faith in Christ for only $20,000. How much is each Ace going to have to ante up for the privilege? Edgy DC Dec 16 2008 09:38 AM West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff. Benjamin Grimm Dec 16 2008 09:56 AM You must have overlooked Jerry Cram in your Google subscription: ="Our Sports Central":3gap6pnt] SAN JOSE, CALIF December 15, 2008- The San Jose Giants announced their 2009 coaching staff today with Andy Skeels joining the club as manager, Jerry Cram as pitching coach and Gary Davenport returning as hitting coach. Yukiya Oba also returns as the team's athletic trainer. ... Jerry Cram is familiar with San Jose after spending three years as the Giants pitching coach from 2001-2003. The former major leaguer is now entering his ninth season in the San Francisco organization after working the last five years (2004-2008) as pitching coach of the Salem- Keizer Volcanoes (Short-Season). During his time in the Giants farm system, Cram's teams have won three league championships: San Jose in 2001 and Salem-Keizer in 2006 and 2007. Cram spent parts of four seasons in the major leagues with the Kansas City Royals (1969, 1976) and New York Mets (1974-1975), compiling a 0-3 record and 2.98 ERA over 23 career appearances. Cram has devoted 28 years to the Kansas City organization, the last 14 as a pitching instructor, in a tenure that ended in 1997. Cram then spent three seasons as a pitching coach in the Colorado Rockies minor league system before joining the San Francisco organization prior to the 2001 campaign. ... The San Jose Giants open their 2009 season on Thursday, April 9th at Municipal Stadium vs. the Stockton Ports. The Opening Night Extravaganza will include a post-game fireworks display, 2009 magnet schedule giveaway, the return of Gigante and much more. [/quote:3gap6pnt] metsguyinmichigan Dec 16 2008 12:29 PM ="Edgy DC":3l94882y]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:3l94882y] The Whitecaps have a thing on Sunday afternoons where you can either go on the field to play catch, or go near the dugout where all the players stand in a line and sign autographs. (kids get a free soda and hot dog, too. We got to a lot of Sunday games.) So last year I brought my treasured Mets book, sought out DePastino to sign it and tried to talk to him about his short Mets tenure. Even though there was no one else around and nothing going on, he had absolutely nothing to say. Was disappointed. Maybe I'll have better luck with Benny. G-Fafif Dec 16 2008 12:37 PM ="Edgy DC":1sfgljfz]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:1sfgljfz] What's Distefano's Met pedigree (other than breaking up David Cone's no-hitter?) At least this will give Distefano and DePastino a chance to exchange each other's misdirected mail. Benjamin Grimm Dec 16 2008 12:49 PM He was a replacement player with the Mets in spring training 1995. G-Fafif Dec 16 2008 12:59 PM Now that you say it, it sounds remotely familiar though I have to confess I might have missed it on a multiple choice. Any other ex-big leaguers in that camp? metsguyinmichigan Dec 16 2008 02:07 PM Stan Jefferson, I think. I saw a couple of those spring games. HahnSolo Dec 16 2008 02:25 PM ="G-Fafif":1lmhw7l1] ="Edgy DC":1lmhw7l1]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:1lmhw7l1] What's Distefano's Met pedigree (other than breaking up David Cone's no-hitter?) At least this will give Distefano and DePastino a chance to exchange each other's misdirected mail.[/quote:1lmhw7l1] Italian restaurants in West Michigan are scurrying to bid for the postgame spread. HahnSolo Dec 16 2008 02:26 PM ="metsguyinmichigan":2a90z7f9]Stan Jefferson, I think. I saw a couple of those spring games.[/quote:2a90z7f9] Two guys I went to high school with, Cliff Gonzalez (8th round pick of the Mets in '85) and Chris Walpole, were in that camp. Gonzalez and Jefferson knew each other having both been from Co-op City. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 17 2008 09:11 AM ] DYKSTRA DROPS THE BALL By KEITH J. KELLY December 17, 2008 -- FORMER New York Mets out fielder Lenny Dykstra appears to be striking out with his magazine, Players Club. Dykstra, who helped the 1986 Mets capture the World Series before landing with the Philadelphia Phillies, is leaving behind a string of unpaid bills and a constant parade of shifting editors and office addresses. In the latest upheaval, Chris Frankie, the acting editor, resigned Dec. 4 along with two other staffers. Now Loren Feldman, former editor-in-chief of Philadelphia magazine, is said to be ready to join as the new chief editor. "Loren Feldman is the new editor," said Dykstra. Meanwhile, Frankie says he's owed back pay. But Dykstra sees things differently: "That's not true. Frankie owes me money. Whatever he's talking about is delusional." Counters Frankie, "That's beyond ridiculous. How could an employee owe an employer money?" Beyond three months' back pay, Frankie said he's also owed for business expenses. Frankie, who had originally helped Dykstra write the TheStreet.com's "Nails on the Numbers" column, got the editor job in August after Dykstra's talks with Neil Amdur, a former sports editor at The New York Times, collapsed at the last minute after a fight over Amdur's ability to hire deputies. "I did fly out there for a meeting with Dykstra about the editor's job," Amdur confirmed. "I spent a couple of days with him. He did offer me the job." The last issue of Players Club was published in October, and the November issue will now be combined into a year-end double issue that has yet to appear. His aim with the magazine was to help professional athletes make sensible investments with the money they earn from sports to ensure they don't go broke when their pro careers end. But present and former staffers say that Dykstra, who during his days with Major League Baseball had the nickname "Nails," is tough as nails when it comes to paying his staff or vendors. Frequently, sources said, he got staff to use their own credit cards to pay for ex penses related to the maga zine, and took months to re imburse the employees. Although the magazine is less than a year old, it has al ready had four different printers and three different editors. Several vendors have also stopped doing business with the magazine. The latest vendor to suspend business is Getty Images, which sources say is owed around $40,000. Dykstra claims that's not true. "I have a great relationship with them," he said of Getty. One source who's worked closely with Dykstra said he "has a haphazard way of paying - he just wires you money." "It's always that the money is just about to come in and everyone will be paid," this person said, adding that if someone demands payment, then Dykstra turns on them. "If you demand payment, then you are the enemy. "He always feels abandoned by people, but he doesn't seem to realize that he's the reason people abandon him." Frayed Knot Dec 17 2008 09:24 AM This surprises me not. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 17 2008 09:26 AM Gotta love the irony in this venture being all about athletes spending wisely. Edgy DC Dec 17 2008 09:26 AM Another day, another house of cards. Edgy DC Dec 22 2008 03:04 PM Aaron Ledesma, infield coach for the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees. The Yankees get a AAA infield coach? What a ripoff! Frayed Knot Dec 22 2008 07:36 PM Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore. Edgy DC Dec 26 2008 08:28 AM DJ has no regrets. Of course he doesn't. He got to be a Met. D.J. Dozier had a Bo Jackson-like versatility Posted to: 50 Greatest Sports By Ed Miller The Virginian-Pilot As William, Bill, or even Billy, it just would not have worked as well. William Henry "D.J." Dozier would have been no less the athlete without that alliterative name, smooth as one of his touchdown runs or fielding gems at shortstop. That name - "D.J. Dozier" - was the shiny bow on top of the package of prep stardom. And Dozier was the complete package: a three-sport standout at Kempsville High, wooed by virtually every major football program in the country, coveted by virtually every pro baseball scout. Virginia Tech coach Bill Dooley came to the Norfolk Sports Club in December 1982 and made a public pitch for Dozier, something that would not be allowed under recruiting rules today, when coaches can't woo prospects through the media. Major league teams waved dollar signs in front of him, trying to convince him to skip football and play baseball. Dozier, No. 12 on the list of greatest athletes from South Hampton Roads, chose football - and Penn State. Later, after several years in the NFL, he reversed course and picked up a bat and glove. Good enough to briefly make it to the majors, he was, in an era of two-sport dabblers, a local, lower-wattage version of guys such as Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders. "Obviously, when you look at the statistics, the numbers are certainly not what I hoped they would have been," said Dozier, now 43 and back in Virginia Beach working as a business consultant. "But the fact that I had the opportunity to go that far with what I would call God-given ability is a tremendous blessing." A dynamo at Penn State, Dozier forever will be a made man among Nittany Lion greats after leading the team in rushing four straight years, earning All-America honors twice and scoring the winning touchdown in a national championship victory over Miami. Things never clicked for him in the NFL, though. A first-round pick, Dozier missed time with injuries and didn't like the way the Vikings were using him - which was not too often. After three years, he signed with the Mets and began the climb through the minors in 1990. Meanwhile, contract talks with the Vikings stalled. Dozier finally re-signed with them halfway through the 1990 season. Dozier finished out that season and played six games with Detroit in 1991. With his baseball career seemingly blossoming, he left football behind. He would play just 25 games for the Mets, though, in 1992. In 1994, at 28, he moved on with his life, retiring from baseball. Dozier has coached, traveled the world doing missionary work, worked as a financial planner and investment banker. He moved back to Virginia recently from Allentown, Pa. He brought with him no regrets. Dozier said he remembered a former Kempsville teammate who played at Lock Haven University. Dozier knew he was good enough to play at Penn State and told his coaches. They offered him a chance to come to Happy Valley. In the end, though, the friend chose the security of staying at Lock Haven, later second-guessing his decision not to take his shot. "I never forgot what he told me about the regret part of it," Dozier said. "That's what it was for me with baseball. I look at it as something that was a bit nuts, but I really felt that I could do it. "The biggest thing about it is I didn't want to look back and regret not trying." He'll never have to. Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372 ed.miller@pilotonline.com metsguyinmichigan Dec 26 2008 11:17 AM That's a nice story! Plus, I'd forgotten how nasty those old Tides caps were. G-Fafif Dec 26 2008 01:32 PM ="Frayed Knot":34ueq9bz]Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore.[/quote:34ueq9bz] How do you suppose he'll greet his new players...or monstrously huge batboy? themetfairy Dec 26 2008 02:12 PM ="G-Fafif":1emwxaju] ="Frayed Knot":1emwxaju]Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore.[/quote:1emwxaju] How do you suppose he'll greet his new players...or monstrously huge batboy?[/quote:1emwxaju] No - just with a simple, "Welcome Abordick," of course! Edgy DC Dec 30 2008 07:42 AM Felix Mantilla, spreading the good chromosomes around. Mantilla earning court time at Yale December 30, 2008 NEWS-SUN STAFF REPORT Mundelein High grad Raffi Mantilla has worked his way into the playing rotation for the Yale University men's basketball team. The sophomore guard has played in all eight Bulldog games (2-6 record), and is averaging nearly 10 minutes of action each game. He's scored a total of 18 points in those eight contests. Mantilla is the grandson of former major-league baseball player Felix Mantilla, who played with the Milwaukee Braves, New York Mets and Boston Red Sox in a long pro career. MFS62 Jan 03 2009 02:29 PM In keeping with the three name thread in the non-baseball forum, I'll always remember him as Felix Lamela Mantilla. (I dunno why, but his middle name always stuck in my mind) Later Edgy DC Jan 03 2009 02:31 PM Yup, and time to retire Brogna 2008.

[HahnSolo]

="SteveJRogers":nytpgns8] ="Adam Rubin":nytpgns8]It�s believed a torch may go from Shea Stadium to Citi Field.[/quote:nytpgns8] And how will that be tamer and less cheezy than bringing out team and/or stadium employees as "ghosts" of long dead players and managers?[/quote:nytpgns8] You're kidding, right? Benjamin Grimm Sep 23 2008 10:51 AM Wait... what? Did the Yankees really have the soda vending guy dressed up as the ghost of Lou Gehrig? And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? (I have to confess: I know nothing about how the Yankees celebrated the closing of their ballpark. I didn't watch and didn't read any of the accounts.) HahnSolo Sep 23 2008 10:53 AM Yes. And Yes. metirish Sep 23 2008 11:02 AM I read something about forcing 105 year old Julia Ruth Stevens (Babe's daughter) to throw out the first pitch , wanting everything to look wonderful Hank had her warm up in the bullpen before hand. soupcan Sep 23 2008 11:27 AM I've got questions. When the soda guy/ghost of Lou Gehrig was introduced, was the rain-like applause hard or soft? Also - when the ghost of Bill Dickey came out, was he able to catch Babe Ruth's non-blood relative's first pitch while still holding his tray of cotton candy? Benjamin Grimm Sep 23 2008 11:30 AM You're making it all sound so... so... cheesy! seawolf17 Sep 23 2008 12:51 PM ="soupcan":7nnlxn67]Also - when the ghost of Bill Dickey came out, was he able to catch Babe Ruth's non-blood relative's first pitch while still holding his tray of cotton candy?[/quote:7nnlxn67] No, but he did get docked pay for missing an hour's worth of selling time. Dude didn't make his quota for the day. SteveJRogers Sep 23 2008 02:53 PM ="Benjamin Grimm"] And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? Well an actual torch would be. Symbolic, like home plate, different story. soupcan Sep 23 2008 02:57 PM ="SteveJRogers"] ="Benjamin Grimm"] And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? Well an actual torch would be. Symbolic, like home plate, different story. Since when are you the arbiter of all things cheesy or non? A torch, while a bit odd I admit, is nowhere near as stupid as bringing out hot dog hawkers dressed as legendary ballplayers. AG/DC Sep 29 2008 09:23 AM Now and perhaps forever: the only Tracy in Mets History. LOCAL LEGENDS: Coeburn High School�s Tracy Stallard Published: September 28, 2008 BY TIM HAYES BRISTOL HERALD COURIER It�s both unfair and unfortunate that Tracy Stallard�s baseball career has come to be defined by one moment. He never lost a game while pitching at Coeburn High School and his exploits are the stuff of legend in Wise County. He put together a respectable seven-season career in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. Yet, despite all those accomplishments, Stallard is still remembered most for one moment. One pitch. One game. It occurred on the final day of the 1961 regular season at Yankee Stadium. Stallard was 23-years-old and in his second season in the big leagues with Boston. He appeared in 43 games that summer for the Red Sox, shuffling between the bullpen and the starting rotation. Boston manager Pinky Higgins decided to start the young right-hander in the final game of the season against a potent New York Yankees lineup. He was solid through three innings and started the fourth inning by striking out Tony Kubek. Then Roger Maris stepped into the batter�s box. Maris had tied Babe Ruth�s single-season home run record of 60, and this game represented his final chance to surpass a mark that had stood for 34 years. In the fourth, he blasted a Stallard pitch down the right-field line. The ball soared into the stands, Maris placed his name in the record book and Stallard forever became the answer to a trivia question. While Stallard and Maris will be eternally linked because of that pitch, there�s more to the Stallard story. Much more. The native son Carroll Dale was a standout athlete in high school during the mid-1950s. The Wise native was so good, in fact, that he went on to play football at Virginia Tech and eventually earned two Super Bowl titles as a wide receiver with the Green Bay Packers. But there was a pitcher at rival Coeburn that Dale and many others just couldn�t solve. �I know every time we played Coeburn, he would have 16 or 17 strikeouts and that was it,� Dale said. �I don�t think anybody was very competitive when he was pitching.� That pitcher was Stallard, and many players went down swinging at his fastball for four unbeaten years. His best season with the Blue Knights came as a senior, when he went 8-0 and tossed two no-hitters. Those numbers earned him a spot in the Virginia High School League Hall of Fame in 2005. His performance also attracted major-league scouts. He signed with the Red Sox in 1956, thus beginning his professional career. Stallard starred in the minor leagues and made his big league debut on Sept. 24, 1960, at Cleveland Stadium. In the ninth inning of Boston�s 11-7 loss to the Cleveland Indians, Stallard entered and worked a scoreless inning. He registered his first major-league strikeout during that outing, fanning Woodie Held for the second out. Back in Coeburn, it was a big deal. �It was a very proud town,� Coeburn resident Steve Hubbard Sr. recalled. Stallard also saw a familiar face when he arrived in Boston. Scott County native Dave Hillman was also a pitcher for Boston, and the duo gave the Red Sox the distinction of having two Southwest Virginia natives on the roster at the same time. �He was a great teammate,� Hillman said. �We had quite a few conversations in the bullpen and everywhere else in Boston about pitching � He could pitch, and he had good stuff.� The moment Stallard appeared in four games for Boston in 1960. The next year he compiled a 2-7 record and a 4.88 ERA and allowed 15 home runs, including the one on Oct. 1 that proved to be historically significant. But there are some things that many people forget or simply don�t know about his encounter with Maris. Maris� solo blast was the only run Stallard allowed in seven innings that day in Boston�s 1-0 loss. It was also the only hit Maris had in seven career at-bats against Stallard. Stallard also played five more seasons in the majors after that fateful day at Yankee Stadium. After pitching in just one game for the Red Sox in 1962, Stallard was traded to the New York Mets, along with Al Moran and Pumpsie Green, for Felix Mantilla. Stallard�s stats weren�t too impressive during those two seasons in New York � he went 6-17 with a 4.71 ERA in 1963 and 10-20 with a 3.79 ERA in 1964 � but keep in mind that the Mets lost a combined 220 games those two seasons, so he didn�t have much run support. For instance, in a August 4, 1964 game against the San Francisco Giants, Stallard allowed just one earned run in 10 1/3 innings. Yet, he settled for no decision, and the Mets eventually lost 4-3 in 14 innings. Earlier that season in a game at Shea Stadium, Stallard was again on the wrong side of history. He was the losing pitcher on June 21, when Philadelphia�s Jim Bunning tossed a perfect game against the Mets. Stallard would be on the move again in 1964 as he and Elio Chacon were dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Gordie Richardson and Johnny Lewis. Stallard had his best season in the summer of 1964, going 11-8 with a 3.38 ERA in 40 games (26 starts) for the Cardinals. He was in the same rotation as Bob Gibson, and his battery mates included Tim McCarver and Bob Uecker. One year later, Stallard went 1-5 with a 5.68 ERA for the Cardinals. It was his final season in the majors. His final tally was a 30-57 record with four saves and a 4.17 ERA in 183 major league games. He also fared well against some of the league�s greatest hitters. Willie Mays hit just .200 and struck out six times in 30 at-bats against the kid from Coeburn, while Harmon Killebrew, Mickey Mantle and Ernie Banks were also among his strikeout victims. These days The 71-year-old Stallard keeps a low profile these days. In fact, numerous attempts to reach him for this story were unsuccessful. He is still competitive, as evidenced by the fact he competes in several area golf tournaments. This summer, he won the super seniors division at a prestigious tournament at Lonesome Pine Country Club in Big Stone Gap. Maris� record was broken in 1998 and now ranks just seventh all-time on the single-season home run list. Still, Maris and Stallard will be forever linked in baseball history because of that one moment in 1961. thayes@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2570 John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 29 2008 09:30 AM Shame on Stallard for making Tim Hayes write that story without his contribution. I read where Stallard was quite the dashing young stud around the city. AG/DC Sep 29 2008 09:42 AM Decent job grinding it out anyhow by young Hayes. AG/DC Oct 06 2008 03:01 PM Rusty Tillman is: a former Mets outfielder claiming to be Jose Canseco's first source for steroids homeless and living in the woods Bridget Murphy of the The Florida Times Union joins the Rico Brogna Journalism All Star Team. From pro-baseball to homeless Hometown baseball hero Rusty Tillman lived a life many dream about. Now he calls a tent his home. By The Times-Union Story by BRIDGET MURPHY Photos by JON M. FLETCHER "It's not like they put a sign out there, 'This is where Rusty Tillman's ball landed.' " The ex-slugger is playing down his glory days from a bench in the away dugout at Fletcher High School. But Kerry Jerome "Rusty" Tillman is basking in not-so-secret pleasure as an old schoolmate is doing his best to resurrect one day in particular. JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Rusty Tillman holds his 2-year-old daughter Sarah during an afternoon visit. While circumstances have left Tillman homeless in Mayport, he tries to make it a habit to visit his daughter daily. It was a Senators home game, must have been 1977, Fletcher Athletic Director Joe Reynolds remembers. A slender 17-year-old in a white-and-purple uniform stepped up to the plate. Then with a crack of wood on stitched leather, Tillman ripped a moon shot. Fans at the Neptune Beach school swarmed the fence to watch the rocket rise up, up and over the outfield wall. Reynolds was coaching on the track and sent one of his runners after the baseball. He says no one has smashed one so far since. Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal.Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal.Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal. "I remember where I was when President Kennedy was killed," Reynolds says. "... I remember when he hit that baseball." The story means the world to Tillman, now 48. Now homeless. He is desperate to cling to the things that are good in his life. Even if he has to flash back 30 years to find them. Those were the days when Chuck Fisette, a lefty who threw 94-mph "smoke" for the Senators, said pitchers cringed when Tillman came up to bat. "You knew he was going to hit it out of the park. You just didn't know how far or in what direction," said the now-veteran Jacksonville corrections officer. By the time Tillman graduated, he'd turned down a Cincinnati Reds offer. But nobody knew how far Tillman would go. Or later, after his 1979 selection by the New York Mets and time on two other major league teams, how far he would fall. Or the kind of secrets he was keeping. Most people still don't know. Because while Reynolds and Tillman were reminiscing in the dugout that July morning, Reynolds had no idea that Tillman was living in a tent in the woods a few miles away. He had no idea that Tillman had been a visitor at Fisette's workplace in recent years, or that he was selling his blood plasma to buy his only luxuries: cell phone minutes, Copenhagen snuff and Sonic banana smoothies. JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Tillman in a 1977-78 Fletcher High School yearbook. Sometimes Tillman also splurged on bug spray. It saved his skin from the blood-suckers that left itchy reminders he had an address marked only by the tags surveyors left on trees. 'Tillman Country Club' Somebody's watchdogs tattle on Tillman as he sneaks through a hole in the fence behind Mayport apartments. But the intruder doesn't hesitate. He rolls his bicycle into knee-high weeds, away from manicured lawns, away from painted parking spots and dead-bolted doors, away from everything else there is for anybody to protect. When the animals sense it, the barking stops. At 6 feet tall and about 200 pounds, it's mostly the creatures that slither in the grass that worry Tillman in the woods. The muscles that served him in pro ball - a bulk strangely still there - won't help with a snakebite. He carries a flashlight at night to spot snakes and zips the opening of his gray tent to keep them out. A blue tarp on top of that tent was all the protection Tillman had during Tropical Storm Fay in August. He stayed put even after two trees crashed onto the tents of homeless friends who left. "Living out here, I have learned a lot," he says. "I never thought I'd be here. I guess once I get back, I'll learn to appreciate what I had." Tillman calls the maroon mountain bike that a pastor gave him - after a promise he wasn't on drugs - his "Escalade." He says he's been clean at least three months. Tillman parks the bike in front of the camp he calls "Tillman Country Club." His belongings include blankets, a radio and a battery-operated unit that delivers shock therapy to his sports-worn knees. He sleeps next to a saw blade and a kitchen knife for protection. Tillman also has a portable TV. He powers it with a car battery that needs a recharge every four days. He has nothing left from his baseball days. No player cards. No uniform caps. No money. Tillman is a man whose family wants to help - begs to help. He is a man with smarts, with guts, with pride - yes, plenty of that. It is the piston that drives him to believe that after his journey, as he says, "from the penthouse to the craphouse," he will get his life together without charity. He knows there is a prize waiting for him when he does. Her name is Sarah Tillman. She turned 2 last month. Nearly every evening, Tillman pedals from his camp to her mother's home in the posh Selva Marina section of Atlantic Beach. Then the father tucks the toddler into bed and slips back into the woods. "I'll probably die from worrying someday," Tillman says by his tent on the kind of summer afternoon that demands air conditioning and cool drinks. "I think what keeps me going now is seeing my daughter graduate from high school." If Tillman makes it to Sarah's elementary school days, he says there will be another reward too: a Major League Baseball pension of about $35,000 a year. Kate Weatherby, Sarah's mother and Tillman's ex-girlfriend, says there's nothing she can do to help him in the meantime. "He knows what he needs to do to get things in order. It's making the choice to do that," she says. But how does a hometown hero who rises to a champagne life skid to the streets? There were fast times and women, divorces and drugs, is how Tillman tells it. Then there were secrets about the drugs, some Tillman said never should have come out. Even after he bottomed out, Tillman said he never sold out his baseball family to make a buck. Instead, he accepted it as his short-lived fame slipped away with his modest fortune. Instead, he fumed as he watched ex-Oakland Athletics teammate Jose Canseco rake in attention and money with two books about baseball's steroids scandal. Tillman said four teammates, including Canseco, bought and used the steroids Tillman smuggled from Mexico when he played for the A's. It was 1986, a year after the Mets traded Tillman and he ended up in Oakland. Bringing the 'juice' Once his steroids confession starts spilling out, Tillman makes it clear he's not naming names like Canseco did. Tillman sees himself as a backup outfielder who knew how to take one for the team. "The code is whatever you do, you're on your own. I'm not going to take you down with me. I didn't get the time that these guys got. But I was one of the lucky ones who got to be around these guys. And I kept my mouth shut." Canseco didn't mention Tillman in his two books and didn't respond to interview requests through his attorney, Gregory Emerson. In his 2008 book Vindicated, Canseco describes getting his first steroids in 1984 from a weight-lifter friend from high school. "I was his first in major leagues," Tillman says. "... I'm the one who started bringing it from Mexico." Tillman said he got the steroids when he'd make extra money playing in a Mexican pro league in the off-season. He started using them after a torn rotator cuff sidelined him. He'd already suffered through a wrist injury, getting so many cortisone shots that his black skin turned white around the injection site. Tillman also had multiple knee surgeries. The steroids were cheap and easy to buy at Mexican pharmacies. And they got results. When Tillman took charter flights back to America, he said no one would check a pro ball player's bags. When his steroids supply ran low, someone he trusted crossed the border and brought him more. The person he named refused to do a Times-Union interview. "It wasn't that I was trying to make money on this," Tillman explains of the 30 to 40 boxes he said he sold for $400 or $500 each. "It was for the family." He took a shot a week, something to give him an edge so he was ready to come off the bench. "A lot of people think it's cheating, but if you don't go out there and perform, they're going to say you're a bum." In March 1987, the A's released Tillman after 11 months and 22 games. His best highlight came off a pitch from Hall of Fame lefty Steve Carlton that he hit out of the park in a game against the White Sox on Sept. 23, 1986. By 1988, Tillman was with the San Francisco Giants, when he hit his second and last home run in the majors. After that, he went back to the minors and was expecting another call-up after a hitting streak. But the call never came. While Tillman said no one ever caught him, accused him or arrested him for steroids, he suspects the game blackballed him for it. "Word might have gotten around that the real Juiceman was here," he said. In the 1990s, Tillman went back to Mexico, helping lead his team in Tabasco to a 1993 championship. In all, he had played 38 games in the majors, 11 seasons in the minors and about six seasons abroad. Tillman says he made maybe a half-million dollars in all and has no regrets about steroids or anything else. "There's a dark side of all of sports. What I done is what I done." Back to work In early August, Tillman got a job in the kitchen of a seafood place in Jacksonville Beach. After more than a year on the streets, there was joy in his voice as he prepared for his first shift. "We'll see how it goes," he said. "I mean, I'm blessed for what I got." JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Rusty Tillman at his campsite in the Mayport area with the portable television he powers off a car battery in his tent. Hugh Palmer, a social worker at the mission where the ex-athlete eats and showers, said Tillman doesn't talk about his past. He said Tillman has an unusual mix of humility and confidence that makes him stand out among his peers. "To see a homeless person that's kind of larger than life, that just goes back to homelessness can happen to anyone," Palmer said. Tillman has plenty of job experience outside of baseball. He's had a few jobs in food service, including cooking for the Jaguars at their downtown stadium last season. In the late 1990s, he worked as a heavy equipment operator in Jacksonville. At the time, he was married to his second wife, Alycia Tillman. The 34-year-old divorcee called her ex-husband, who also has two grown sons from prior relationships, a good provider who worked a second job at Krystal to make extra money. The two of them went to work renovating his grandmother's home on the block he grew up on in Atlantic Beach, after marrying in 1999. It was a few doors from the home where Tillman's late father, a Jacksonville Beach city mechanic, and late mother, a school custodian, raised him, his three brothers and his sister. But Alycia Tillman said her husband started indulging a drug addiction when the two moved back to his hometown. Tillman said he had his own reasons for their split. When a judge granted the uncontested divorce in 2003, a copy of the order he mailed to Tillman came back marked like this: "Tillman moved. Left no address. Unable to forward. Return to sender." In September, Alycia Tillman said she was shocked to hear that her ex was living in the woods. "If I'd known he was in that situation, he could have come to me. If it's not Kerry's way," she said, using Tillman's given name, "he just won't do it. If he can't get it, he doesn't feel he needs it." After a few weeks of restaurant night shifts this summer, Tillman decided he'd rather see Sarah. He was missing those nightly tuck-ins. But a lucky break was coming his way this time. A former Fletcher schoolmate with a plumbing company agreed to hire him. Tillman had been riding his bicycle past Brian Christy's business for months, promising to learn quickly if he took a chance on him. A month ago, Tillman got his call-up. "Rusty knows what having a lot of money in his pocket is about and he also knows what not having any is about," Christy said. "A guy like that, you're not going to beat him down. It's his decision if he's going to get back on top of his game." After work on Sept. 19, Tillman planned to meet Sarah and her mother at Fletcher High School. The three of them were going to dinner to celebrate the toddler's birthday. Before that, Fletcher baseball coach Kevin Brown spotted his former classmate on the diamond. He told Tillman he was thrilled to see him at school, that he should come back and teach the boys how to really hit. Then the coach found a couple of bats. For the first time in years, Tillman stepped onto the field and took a swing. "Oh man, this brings back memories for real," Tillman said. "Oh yeah, I could see myself hitting some. I'd miss a whole bunch. But I'd hit some." bridget.murphy@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4161. Video: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1156018486/bctid1836680060 AG/DC Oct 17 2008 06:29 AM John Stearns makes Hall of Fame at Colorado University, who could use some good pub. Frankly, I'm surprised it's taken this long, considering the proliferation and dubious standards of Halls of Fame, but this does shed some light on one of the most enduring number-related mysteries in Met history. According to this photo, John wore 12 as an All-America defensive back, which could explain half of the 1977 number swap with Lee Mazzilli. Stearns into CU Hall of Fame Posted by GEOFF MORROW, Of The Patriot-News October 16, 2008 Harrisburg Senators manager John Stearns in his college football pose at the University of Colorado. He'll be inducted into the CU Hall of Fame on Friday. Considered one of the most prolific two-sport stars in University of Colorado history, Harrisburg Senators manager John Stearns will be inducted into the Buffaloes' Hall of Fame today in Boulder. Stearns, 57, starred for the Colorado football and baseball teams in the early 1970s. A first-team all-conference selection as a senior safety, Stearns earned the nickname "Bad Dude" as one of the most feared hitters in team history. He still holds the Buffaloes' career record with 16 interceptions and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 1973 NFL draft. But football wasn't even his best game, and he never played a down in the NFL. Stearns earned All-American status in baseball in '73, leading the NCAA in home runs (15) that year. His career numbers at Colorado include a .366 batting average, 26 home runs, 101 RBIs and 48 stolen bases. A catcher, he Stearns was the No. 2 overall pick in the 1973 amateur draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He was traded to the New York Mets after the '74 season and became a four-time National League all-star. After retiring, he became a scout and coach and managed the Senators in 2006 and 2008. In other Senators news, pitching coach Rick Tomlin, who spent the past four years with the Senators, is not returning to the organization, a fact confirmed by Bobby Williams, the Nationals' director of player development. Senators president Kevin Kulp also announced that Dan Watson, the team's secondary radio broadcaster last year, completed his internship in September and is not returning. Kulp said the team will look to hire another media intern, probably in January. For more on Stearns' induction, see Friday's edition of The Patriot-News. John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 17 2008 07:13 AM nice G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:08 AM Steve Henderson coaching his way into the World Series. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy who couldn't have given at least one already long-suffering fan a better Saturday night 28 years ago. ]Henderson missed winning the NL's Rookie of the Year Award by one vote to Montreal's Andre Dawson in 1977 after hitting .297 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI in 350 at-bats. In 1979 he hit .306 and in 1980, his final season in Flushing, he hit .290. It was that year that he had his most memorable day as a Met, and perhaps his most memorable day in baseball -- until Sunday night. On June 14, Henderson picked up his girlfriend Pam at LaGuardia, proposed to her (she accepted and they are still married) and then took her to the ballpark, where he etched his name into Mets lore for something other than being trade bait. In what has come to be called "The Steve Henderson Game," the left fielder stroked a three-run home run to right that capped a five-run, ninth-inning rally, as the previously awful Mets stunned the Giants, 7-6, to move to within a game of .500 and within six games of the Expos in the NL East. "That was a great, great day," Henderson said with a smile. "I'll always remember that one. But these days are pretty good, too." AG/DC Oct 21 2008 10:10 AM I (1) don't remember the proposal angle, which is awesome, and (2) am surprised it's got an eponymous reputation outside of here. G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:12 AM It got a cameo in the Shea Goodbye DVD even. AG/DC Oct 21 2008 10:19 AM I feel like we coined something. G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:20 AM I've been calling it the Steve Henderson Game since probably no later than June 16, 1980. AG/DC Oct 21 2008 10:27 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 21 2008 12:06 PM I just checked the calendar. It turns out that it's Shoot Down AG/DC Day. It came up so fast this year. G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:41 AM I've been calling it that since probably no later than eleven o'clock this morning. metirish Oct 21 2008 10:56 AM ="G-Fafif"]Steve Henderson coaching his way into the World Series. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy who couldn't have given at least one already long-suffering fan a better Saturday night 28 years ago. ]Henderson missed winning the NL's Rookie of the Year Award by one vote to Montreal's Andre Dawson in 1977 after hitting .297 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI in 350 at-bats. In 1979 he hit .306 and in 1980, his final season in Flushing, he hit .290. It was that year that he had his most memorable day as a Met, and perhaps his most memorable day in baseball -- until Sunday night. On June 14, Henderson picked up his girlfriend Pam at LaGuardia, proposed to her (she accepted and they are still married) and then took her to the ballpark, where he etched his name into Mets lore for something other than being trade bait. In what has come to be called "The Steve Henderson Game," the left fielder stroked a three-run home run to right that capped a five-run, ninth-inning rally, as the previously awful Mets stunned the Giants, 7-6, to move to within a game of .500 and within six games of the Expos in the NL East. "That was a great, great day," Henderson said with a smile. "I'll always remember that one. But these days are pretty good, too." Nice article on Henderson , can't say I knew much about him before now so thnaks for that. Farmer Ted Oct 21 2008 12:00 PM God, how did I miss Henderson with the Rays? Who else didn't know? AG/DC Oct 21 2008 12:13 PM The funny thing about the Joe Torre era is, despite how much they struggled to get their heads aobve water, how static a roster they had. G-Fafif Oct 22 2008 07:26 AM ="AG/DC":5nmwi48e]The funny thing about the Joe Torre era is, despite how much they struggled to get their heads aobve water, how static a roster they had.[/quote:5nmwi48e] Thinking about this observation in the context of my visceral over-the-top enthusiasm on September 28 when Doug Flynn was introduced. Next to Doc and Fonzie, two Mets I'd been waiting forever for to come home, I wasn't more elated to see anybody in a Mets jersey than Doug Flynn. It was bigger than Willie Mays to me, I think. That probably owes to the fact that those lousy teams from '77 to '80, the core of them anyway, stayed together. Those were our guys in (in my case) junior high and high school. Those were the guys we argued on behalf of, if only in our heads: Flynn, Hendu, Mazz, Blood, Swannie, Dude. They weren't very good but they were always there. Showing up counts. It's the difference (along with the perspective of age and expectation) between those lousy teams and the later lousy teams. There was more movement in the early '90s. It's the way the industry worked then, and you'd have been crazy to have hoped Vince Coleman would have hung around one second longer than he had to. By the lousy teams of '02-'04, there was nothing charming about it, certainly not if you'd lived through other dark eras. Maybe someday somebody who was a kid in 2003 will leap to his feet for an Old Timers introduction of Ty Wigginton. Ah, who am I kidding? I'll leap to my feet for an Old Timers introduction of Ty Wigginton. metirish Oct 27 2008 06:48 AM Koosman ] WHERE ARE THEY NOW? JERRY KOOSMAN BY JIM BAUMBACH | jim.baumbach@newsday.com October 26, 2008 Jerry Koosman hasn't followed the Tampa Bay Rays all that much this season, so he only recently became aware that people are comparing their stunning run to the World Series to the '69 Mets. But even though the former Mets lefthander might not be able to name many of the Tampa Bay players, he sure knows all about what these 20-somethings on the Rays are going through right now. And if the Rays are anything like those Miracle Mets, then they're not looking at this World Series against the Phillies as a chance to prove their worth to America. Because the Mets definitely didn't feel that way. "We felt we proved that we could win," Koosman said, "by getting to the World Series." But once there, the pressure of playing on the big stage definitely was intense. "The World Series was just a new endeavor, something none of us had ever experienced before," said Koosman, who allowed four runs and seven hits in 17 2/3 innings in winning Games 2 and 5. "So every day brought something new, like a different person singing the national anthem." Just like the '69 Mets, the Rays split the first two games of the World Series, losing the first and winning the second. Koosman said he approached Game 2 much differently from a normal game. "Personally, I went out there with a fear of losing," he said. "I just didn't want to lose. I didn't want to be taken out of the ballgame. I didn't want to be pinch hit for. I didn't want to be behind, whatever. I was just really fearful of losing and pitched my butt off because of that. "And in the back of my mind, I had a goal of pitching a perfect game." Seriously? "I certainly was thinking that," he said. Koosman wasn't perfect that day, but he was close enough. He took a no-hitter into the seventh and lasted 8 2/3 innings before Ron Taylor got the final out in the Mets' 2-1 win over the Orioles. Now 65 years old and living in a small Wisconsin suburb about an hour from Minneapolis, Koosman made a point of watching the Rays last week. He said the biggest similarity he noticed between their team and his was the young pitching staffs, especially the starters. The Mets' starters in the World Series were Koosman (26), Tom Seaver (24) and Gary Gentry (23). The Rays' starters are James Shields (26), Andy Sonnanstine (25), Matt Garza (24) and Scott Kazmir (24). The two teams' histories also are similar. In their first seven seasons of existence, the Mets had an average record of 56-105. After going 73-89 in 1968, they were 100-62 in 1969 and won the World Series. In its first 10 years of existence, Tampa Bay had an average record of 65-97. Then the Rays followed a 66-96 2007 season by going 97-65. If history repeats itself, the Rays will not lose again. In '69, the Mets won the series in five games, the last four in a row after losing the first in Baltimore. Koosman pitched Game 5, and he said he felt even more pressure to win that game than Game 2. "You could just sense how great it would be to win in New York and not go back to Baltimore," he said. "That was the main talk in the clubhouse and during batting practice. By the time the game started, each of us, I think, put enough pressure on ourselves. The outside pressure didn't matter anymore." Singer/actress Pearl Bailey, who sang the national anthem that day, approached Koosman just before he started his warmups. "She told me she saw the number eight and forecasted we would win," he said. "She didn't know what the number eight meant, but we won, 5-3." AG/DC Oct 27 2008 07:14 AM How has Jerry occupied himself in retirement? Benjamin Grimm Oct 27 2008 07:30 AM My guess: Golf! AG/DC Oct 27 2008 07:36 AM Well, I was thinking more about income-generating occupation. Has he kept the family farm going? Besides, I'm guessing that the golf in Minnesoata isn't top-notch. Benjamin Grimm Oct 27 2008 08:25 AM Well, he's almost 66 years old. I hope, for his sake, that he's happily retired by now. AG/DC Oct 27 2008 08:45 AM Well, I'm in the present perfect tense here, wondering how he's occupied himself in the interim, since his release by the Philllies. G-Fafif Oct 27 2008 08:51 AM It doesn't speak to his present occupation, but I got a big kick out of Kooz two years ago when SNY brought him and Mookie to town as part of a big pep rally prior to the postseason and Matt Yallof asked him to describe what it was like pitching in New York in October and Jerry took the question literally and described how the cool weather was very helpful. What a great Midwestern answer. metirish Oct 27 2008 09:31 AM Jerry had the open heart surgery a few years back IIRC. AG/DC Oct 27 2008 06:21 PM Straight outa Compton. The Duke Of Flatbush: The Story Of Duke Snider by Isaac Barrow (Senior Writer) Duke Snider is one of the best Dodgers ever to play the game. He played for the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers from 1947 to 1962. He played left field and is one of the best power hitters in baseball history... Duke Snider is one of the best Dodgers ever to play the game. He played for the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers from 1947 to 1962. He played left field and is one of the best power hitters in baseball history. Edwin Donald Snider was born on Sept. 19, 1926 in Los Angeles. Snider was a two-sport athlete, playing football and baseball, which he ended up pretty good at (just thought I'd put it out there). He attended Compton High School from 1940 to 1943. As a baseball player, he was spotted by a Branch Rickey scout and was immediately signed to a minor league contract. He played for the Montreal Royals in 1944, but had just two at bats. In 1945, he was drafted and 1946 would be his first season in professional baseball. He played for Fort Worth that year and in 1947 played for St. Paul. He played quite well there and after starting 1948 for Montreal and tearing it up, he was called up to the Dodgers for good. Snider never made a lot of money in the bigs: "My high salary was 46,000 dollars and a Cadillac." In 1949, he made that step up. He hit 23 home runs, drove in 92 and had a .292 batting clip. Snider had an amazing 1950 season, hitting .321 with 30 one home runs and 107 runs knocked in. The next year, Snider folded under pressure as he saw his average dip 40 four points. "I told (Walter) O'Malley I wanted a trade. I couldn't take the pressure anymore." Snider, being the mentally tough guy he was, adapted. He hit .303 with 21 homers the next year and got management back on his side. The mid 50's were his glory days. He hit 40 or more home runs in five consecutive seasons (1953-57) and averaged 42 home runs, 124 RBI, 123 runs and a .320 batting average between 1953-1956. He dipped dramatically from 1958 to 1964. In 1958, he had 15 home runs and just 58 RBI, but still hit.312 on the season. When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, his fold under pressure became evident. In his remaining years with the Dodgers, his career high in homers was just 23. His career low in Brooklyn was 21. In 1963, Duke played for the Mets. He struggled and wasn't the slugger he was expected to be. He had 14 home runs, 45 RBI and a .243 batting average. On Opening Day of 1964, the Giants picked him up. He was obviously washed up. He had four home runs, 17 RBI and an anemic .210 batting average. 31 years later in 1995, two Hall of Famers: Snider and Willie McCovey pleaded guilty to tax fraud. Snider failed to report income from sports memorabilia sales and sports card shows. In 1980, Snider was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He finished his career with 407 home runs, 1,333 RBI and a .295 batting clip. Since Johnny Podres died in January, Snider is the only living Dodger who was on the field for the 1955 World Series. What I think is funny is how much of a joke he thinks baseball is today. He is sick of the millionaires in baseball. He said, "Man, if I made a million dollars, I'd come at six in the morning, sweep the stands, wash the uniforms, clean out the office, manage the team and play the games." What do you say to that, Manny? MFS62 Oct 28 2008 07:52 AM And not one mention about how, after he retired, Snider went on to be one of the biggest (in terms of crop volume) avacado growers in the country? Later AG/DC Oct 28 2008 07:59 AM It's admittedly a pretty weak piece for a guy tagged as a "senior writer." He gets three quotes from Snider --- wow, old timers are jealous of rich latter day players and think they're prima donnas; shocker! --- and seems to paste the rest togeher from wikipedia or the paper's obits-of-the-future file. He goes chronologically through the career, but his post-career detail includes a one-sentence paragraph about 1995 and then back to 1980. Barely C- work. You get a Hall-of-Famer on the phone, get some juice. Get him to fill in some historical detail that's not on the record. How about calling Manny Ramirez for a rebuttal? HahnSolo Oct 28 2008 09:11 AM Help me with my Duke knowledge. Wasn't he a Center fielder? why does the writer call him a left fielder in the open? AG/DC Oct 28 2008 09:18 AM Good point. The writer seems to be in an unswerving devotion to failing his reader. Snider broke in as a utility outfielder but never played left primarily. He might have landed there, but he quickly took over center when Pete Reiser battered himself into obscurity by running into outfield walls. He played a lot of right at the end of his career, but anybody who knows a bit about the guy would call him a centerfieder. G-Fafif Oct 28 2008 09:31 AM If Snider weren't a centerfielder, Terry Cashman would have written "Willie, Mickey and Whoever Flanked The Duke". Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 07:57 AM Rick White, getting in shape: Springfield News-Sun Ex-Ray, Phillie won't take sides Springfield's Rick White had stops in Tampa Bay and Philadelphia during his 13-year MLB career. By David Jablonski Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD � People ask Rick White all the time, "Do you miss the game?" It's a natural question to pose to a pitcher who appeared in 613 Major League Baseball games for 11 teams over a 13-year period. At this time of year, as he watches two of his former teams play each other in the World Series, the Springfield resident White can expect to hear the question even more often. "I don't miss anything but the game itself," White said on Tuesday, Oct. 28. "I miss being out there competing. I wish I was in one of those bullpens waiting for the phone to ring." White played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 1998, the year the expansion team entered the league, until July 2000 when he was traded to the Mets. In his 2� seasons in Tampa Bay, he compiled a 3.81 ERA in 248 innings. He still ranks eighth in franchise history in games pitched (145). None of the current Rays were with the team when White played for them, but he did play with assistant coaches Dave Martinez (1998-2000) and Tom Foley (with Pittsburgh in 1994). From 2001-07, Tampa Bay ranked last in AL attendance every season. But in its first two seasons, it ranked in the middle of the pack, and White remembers the early years for the franchise as an exciting time. "It was a lot of fun to be a part of that, to be part of something new," he said. "In my first three years, we had teams that were good enough to win. We just couldn't put the pieces together. We weren't able to stop those big losing streaks." White pitched for the Phillies in 2006, compiling a 4.34 ERA in 38 relief appearances. He threw well enough to come away with positive impressions of the notorious Phillies fans. Watching the games over the last week, White said he's not rooting for one team. "I've got a bunch of friends on both teams," he said. "Obviously, the Phillies haven't won it in a long time. It'd be nice for them to win it. I like the National League game better, but I would be fine with whoever won this one." White has not pitched since the end of the 2007 season. For the first time in his life, he was able to take his family on a summer vacation this year. Still, he hasn't given up on baseball. He plans to meet with some general managers after this season about getting into coaching or scouting. He also plans to get his arm in shape � just in case. "I highly doubt it, but my agent says to go ahead and work out and stay in shape," White said. "If somebody is interested, I'll try out. If not, I'll be in shape to throw batting practice." G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 07:59 AM When did Edgy DC come out of retirement? Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 08:07 AM Had to fly my Rube Walker flag. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 08:38 AM Not that there's ever a bad day for it, but any particular reason today is Rube Walker Appreciation Day? Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 08:51 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 29 2008 09:13 AM AG/DC is still working his way through Metly posting levels, while my alter ego Edgy DC, having surpassed 11,000, posts retains the permanent posting designation of his choice --- Rube Walker. When I saw Zvon had created a new avatar for that designation, I had to switch back to Edgy. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 08:54 AM Thank you for indulging the question. It's a very nice avatar. Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 08:54 AM It strikes me that, among multiple posting names here, at the old Crane Pool, and at the MOFo, I probably have over 100,000 posts, and have goofed off more than any internet poster in Metdom. Benjamin Grimm Oct 29 2008 09:08 AM My post total is second to yours, but I never reset myself to zero. My 20,000 or so posts includes the ezBoard totals as well as my name change. I think your biggest competition for all-time post leader might be Scarlett/Cookie Mom/metfairy/Inside Pitcher... Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 09:14 AM Scarlet put in a six-month retirement, but she certainly pre-dated me at the MOFo. I don't know how many handles she worked there. She also had a career at Grand Slam Single. Vic Sage Oct 29 2008 09:33 AM ah, yes, the GSS. I was banned there... a distinction i wear with honor. I don't even remember why. I think i tried to incite an insurrection against their overbearing administrators. SteveJRogers Oct 29 2008 09:44 AM ="Vic Sage":1f3jzt7s]ah, yes, the GSS. I was banned there... a distinction i wear with honor. I don't even remember why. I think i tried to incite an insurrection against their overbearing administrators.[/quote:1f3jzt7s] GSS is spoken of in the same terms quite often over at the MOFO. Kind of feel sorry I missed out on all that fun. metsguyinmichigan Oct 29 2008 09:58 AM As a relative newby, may I must ask what the MOFo is? Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 10:03 AM Mets Online Forum. This forum was established largely in response to a downclick in the level of discourse there. That's right, once we were trying to set a standard. Willets Point Oct 29 2008 10:07 AM MetsOnline itself was a fan-built website in the mid-90's that predated the Mets having a website. MetsOnline was killed by a cease & desist in 2002, although I think there may still be a bulletin board out there where they're calling themselves the MOFO. Benjamin Grimm Oct 29 2008 11:28 AM It sounds like Steve was talking about it in the present tense. SteveJRogers Oct 29 2008 12:34 PM I was referring to the BB that Willets mentioned. Several of the posters on the current MOFO were on GSS (yet another Met forum named after Ventura's infamous game winning hit in Game 5 1999 NLCS of course), and got the boot in the same fashion as Vic mentioned, for pretty much the same reasons. Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 12:43 PM Infamous? Are you a Braves fan? Steve seems to know more about the history of this place than I do, and I don't know hardly anything about him. Benjamin Grimm Oct 29 2008 12:51 PM Yeah, really. I wouldn't put Robin Ventura's game-winning shot in the same category as Pearl Harbor. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 04:15 PM ="Benjamin Grimm"]Yeah, really. I wouldn't put Robin Ventura's game-winning shot in the same category as Pearl Harbor. October 17, 1999: A date which will live in famy. A Boy Named Seo Oct 29 2008 04:21 PM Rogers was either going with the popular, but controversial Lucky Day/El Guapo definition of "infamous", or he's just gettin' all Chipper J. Jeets[/url:1drkl6im] on us. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 04:26 PM Steve's been everywhere, man... seawolf17 Oct 29 2008 05:39 PM ="A Boy Named Seo":1gbomtrk]Rogers was either going with the popular, but controversial Lucky Day/El Guapo definition of "infamous"[/quote:1gbomtrk] Hilarious. "Jefe? Do you know what is a plethora? Well, you told me I have a plethora. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has no idea what it means to have a plethora." One of the best movies ever. Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 05:45 PM Well, maybe one of the best million films ever. I can go for that. Kong76 Oct 29 2008 06:17 PM EDC: Steve seems to know more about the history of this place than I do, and I don't know hardly anything about him <<< StevieJStalker sees all! Frayed Knot Oct 29 2008 07:39 PM ="SteveJRogers":2nu9sgsu]Several of the posters on the current MOFO were on GSS and got the boot in the same fashion as Vic mentioned, for pretty much the same reasons.[/quote:2nu9sgsu] What Vic did to got booted (and me IIRC) had nothing to do with what others did. Edgy DC Oct 30 2008 10:58 AM Dan Reilly, knew when to keep his mouth shut. Check out the piping on ihs original uni. Villager photo by Will McKinley Dan Reilly, the original Mr. Met, at Shea Stadium recently. Reilly with his Mr. Met baseball head back in the mid-1960s when he was the team�s mascot at home games. Mr. Met recalls heady times as first mascot for Amazin�s By WILL McKINLEY Dozens of Mets legends were honored at Shea Stadium�s closing ceremony last month, from Tom Seaver to Mike Piazza and all the lesser lights in between. But one seminal figure in the team�s history was conspicuous by his absence. Dan Reilly, the first man to wear the costume of iconic mascot Mr. Met, watched the bittersweet festivities at home on TV like an ordinary fan. But the longtime Soho resident and author of the new book �The Original Mr. Met Remembers,� is anything but. �I�m disappointed they didn�t invite me back, but I�m not angry,� said Reilly, who played the Mets mascot on and off the field from 1964 through 1967, the first three of his nine years with the club. �Seaver, Koosman, Swoboda, all those guys were my buddies. And I figured they�d like to see me again, too, just to say hello, a few handshakes, keep in touch. They all still call me Mr. Met.� Now 70 and retired, Reilly�s ties with the team go back to Shea�s inaugural season, when he joined the Mets ticket sales staff two months before the debut of their new home. �It was a snowy February morning the day of my interview,� Reilly said last week, as he walked the grounds of the soon-to-be-demolished stadium. �From the outside, it looked like an orange-and-blue skeleton. Nothing was happening and nobody was around. Inside, they were still putting the seats in. And now I�m watching them take those seats out. It�s sad.� Sadness is not an emotion readily associated with Reilly, a jovial, outgoing raconteur who worked in the restaurant business after leaving the Mets in 1972, and recently concluded a four-year stint as the host of game-day ferry rides to Shea. On boat or barstool, the Richmond Hill, Queens, native spins colorful tales of the early days of the Amazin� Mets with a hearty laugh and, on this occasion, a misty eye. �We were a small organization back then, no superstars,� said Reilly, clad in a Mets jersey and still using �we� and �us� when referring to the team he left 36 years ago. �I drank with those guys. I knew where all the good Irish bars in Queens were. And I knew when to keep my mouth shut. That�s why everyone liked me.� Reilly was front and center for nearly all of the significant events of the team�s first decade: Shea�s first opening day; the 1964 All-Star Game; Casey Stengel�s on-field 75th birthday celebration and the infamous after-party at Toots Shor�s, where the legendary manager broke his hip and ended his career; the arrival of 1967 Rookie of the Year Seaver; the managerial tenure of Reilly�s boyhood idol Gil Hodges and, most memorably, the Miracle Mets World Series victory on Oct. 16, 1969. �As soon as that game was over, I ran from the press box down to the clubhouse,� Reilly said 39 years and one day later, as he traced the trajectory from the top of the stadium to the bottom with his finger. �There�s a picture of me in the 1970 yearbook, being doused with champagne by Jerry Grote. Those were my guys. They were the best.� In addition to his daily responsibilities, first in ticket sales and later in the promotions department, Reilly also served as the V.I.P. handler for visiting celebrities and politicians, ran the Mets Speakers Bureau program and filled in as public address announcer at Shea for three weeks in 1966. He also wished four members of a British rock band good luck as they ran on to the field for an August 1965 concert. �I said, �Break a leg, guys,� and one of them said, �Thanks mate!�� Reilly remembered. �I don�t know which one it was because I didn�t know who The Beatles were back then.� But Reilly�s fondest memories began on May 31, 1964, when he donned the papier-m�ch�, baseball-shaped head of the first mascot in Major League Baseball history. The Mets lost both sides of a doubleheader that day to the Giants, whose defection to California with the Brooklyn Dodgers after the 1957 season inspired attorney Bill Shea�s successful crusade to bring National League baseball back to New York. But, between games of that doubleheader, a star was born. �The stadium was packed and I was nervous,� Reilly said with a laugh. �They had told me to play it straight, just walk out there and wave, but the kids started swarming down to meet me in the stands. I shook hands, posed for pictures, signed autographs. After that, I got cocky and started dancing. It was an instant hit. Back then, the fans might not have recognized the players, but they always recognized Mr. Met.� As Reilly remembered the glories of four decades past, he struck up a conversation with a current Mets fan, 48-year-old software engineer Mark Szemberski, who was snapping photos of the now-shuttered stadium. �Of all people to meet, the last time I�m at Shea � Mr. Met!� Szemberski exclaimed, as he posed for a picture with the unlikely celebrity. �You made my day. I hope they invite you back when they open the new stadium.� Reilly handed Szemberski his business card, which features a photo of his younger self in a regulation Mets uniform, holding the outsized head that made him famous. The original Mr. Met is smiling broadly, as always. �Baseball is tradition,� Reilly said, as he bid final farewell to Shea from a departing 7 train. �Mr. Met touched people then, and he still does. I think it�s important to remember how we used to do it, what Shea used to be like. If we do, there will always be a Shea Stadium.� �The Original Mr. Met Remembers: When the Miracle Began� (138 pages) is available at iUniverse.com. HahnSolo Oct 30 2008 11:22 AM The uniform on the right suggests that photo is from '86 (racing stripes and anniversary logo), not from the early sixties. (I see Edgy beat me to that). soupcan Oct 30 2008 11:23 AM Yeah - something's wrong there. Benjamin Grimm Oct 30 2008 11:38 AM I'd guess that in 1986 he was just visiting with his old head. seawolf17 Oct 30 2008 12:07 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":36b19cxk]I'd guess that in 1986 he was just visiting with his old head.[/quote:36b19cxk] Possibly for a 25th anniversary event, which would make sense. Edgy DC Nov 03 2008 02:40 PM The High-A Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino (real name!) have announced their coaching staff, including John Valentin as batting coach and Charlie Hough as pitching coach. I confused Hough with Verne Ruhle and thought he was dead. Edgy DC Nov 10 2008 02:45 PM Candidates being looked at for the Seattle managerial job include Jose Oquendo, the prototype for Rey Ordoñez; Joey Cora, who managed for the Mets in the minors, and Randy Ready, who has one of the porniest names in baseball history. sharpie Nov 11 2008 11:36 AM Soon we can enjoy the literary stylings of Mike Piazza: Mike Piazza, a 12-time All Star for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets, has signed a deal to write his autobiography for Simon & Schuster. V-p and senior editor Bob Bender acquired world rights from David Black, CEO of Black Inc., and Dan Lozano, Piazza�s sports agent. Publication is slated for 2010. In the book, Piazza, who retired just before the 2008 season, will discuss controversies of his career, including the 2000 World Series incident when Roger Clemens threw a shattered bat at him, and the press conference he held to deny rumors that he was gay. The autobiography will also cover Piazza�s tumultuous relationships with the Dodgers, their front office and Tommy Lasorda; as well as his former teammates Bobby Valentine, Pedro Martinez, Rickey Henderson and others. Edgy DC Nov 11 2008 11:40 AM He actually retired well into the 2008 season when he hadn't gotten interest from anybody. And Bobby Valentine wasn't his teammate. Who writes press releases these days? John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 11 2008 11:47 AM Who cares. I'm going to read the hell out of that book. Edgy DC Nov 11 2008 11:52 AM If'n I were you, I contact that agent NOW!!!! and show him your writin' credentials. Benjamin Grimm Nov 11 2008 11:55 AM Good thought. Writing the hell out of the book would be even better than reading the hell out of it. HahnSolo Nov 11 2008 12:19 PM Knowing the publishing industry as I do, I can tell you that acquiring editor had absolutely no interest in the writin' credentials in the manuscript and cared primarily about the name on page 1. Benjamin Grimm Nov 11 2008 12:21 PM So Piazza now shops around for a ghost, I suppose? I figure he'll go with a sportswriter he had a good relationship with during his playing days. G-Fafif Nov 11 2008 12:23 PM Or a David Frum/Michael Gershon otherwise underemployed wordsmith of the right. Mike goes that way. HahnSolo Nov 11 2008 12:25 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":r3mb7fqz]So Piazza now shops around for a ghost, I suppose? I figure he'll go with a sportswriter he had a good relationship with during his playing days.[/quote:r3mb7fqz] I doubt Piazza does the shopping unless there's a writer he was really close to and insists on using him. Otherwise, I expect the literary agent would work with the publisher to find someone. Edgy DC Nov 11 2008 12:28 PM Which is fucking why you should be acting NOW!!!! G-Fafif Nov 11 2008 12:30 PM I'm Richie Hebner for another eight posts or so. I'm not going out of my way to pick up any ground balls for a little while. sharpie Nov 11 2008 12:32 PM David Black, the agent, reps many bigtime sportswriters (including Mitch Albom of "Tuesdays With Morrie" fame). Piazza would have already come attached with a writer by the time the deal was made. Benjamin Grimm Nov 11 2008 12:32 PM I don't want to stir up an ugly intramural competition, but GFafif should also throw his hat in the ring. G-Fafif Nov 11 2008 12:40 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":3prysgfg]I don't want to stir up an ugly intramural competition, but GFafif should also throw his hat in the ring.[/quote:3prysgfg] Thanks, but first I have to finish my "as told to myself" thing. After I stop being Richie Hebner. Edgy DC Nov 12 2008 10:23 AM Former Pitchers Leading Today's Brogna News: Hideo Nomo, teaching the forkball to young buffalos. Frank Viola, getting into the analyst game. Tom Seaver, advising the youth of today and liquoring up Tommy Davis. John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 12 2008 10:41 AM Read also where Leiter was joining the staff at MLB-TV. I guess that means he's leaving the NO! network. Edgy DC Nov 13 2008 08:14 AM So, if you're like me, you grew sick of stories of Lenny Dykstra, swinging finance trader, about two paragraphs into the first one, but now the angle isn't that he's just another player, but that he's actually flourishing during these hard times. The claim is that he's 82-0 in stock picks endorsed in his newsletter. Edgy DC Nov 13 2008 01:36 PM Rick Sweet returning as manager of the Louisville Bats. Local favorite Roger Mason joins the Traverse City Beach Bums as pitching coach. John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 13 2008 01:38 PM Ron Gardenhire gets an extension. Leiter btw, will still work for Al-Yankazeera. Reynolds tho is out at SNY, raising speculation that Bobby Ojeda is on his way in. I think I speak for everyone ever by saying it would be nice to mix a 73er or 99-00er in there. TransMonk Nov 13 2008 01:42 PM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket":1jn4n2h7]I think I speak for everyone ever by saying it would be nice to mix a 73er or 99-00er in there.[/quote:1jn4n2h7] Didn't Zeile get a shot once? Benjamin Grimm Nov 13 2008 01:44 PM I was thinking a 69er: Ron Swoboda. Edgy DC Nov 13 2008 05:02 PM Sam Perlozzo joins the Phils. Bang. metsguyinmichigan Nov 13 2008 11:01 PM ="Edgy DC":828l4i24]Rick Sweet returning as manager of the Louisville Bats. Local favorite Roger Mason joins the Traverse City Beach Bums as pitching coach.[/quote:828l4i24] Traverse City is a beautiful resort area about two hours north of me. The team is fairly new, and plays in an independent league. We used to play in an all-newspaper softball tournament in Traverse, and it was fun until the Detroit News took it over and started stacking its team with ringers who didn't work for the paper. Cads! I'll have to head up this summer and see a game and talk to Mason! Edgy DC Nov 14 2008 10:19 AM Holy Foli, Batman, it's Sammy Drake! In a Mets hat! An old friendship, forged 50 years ago, is rekindled AUGUSTA -- It was the New York Mets cap on his head. This being Red Sox country, people had to stop the athletic, older man this week and ask. "What's up with the hat?" That's when C. Wayne Mitchell glanced at his guest and stepped in. "This is Sammy Drake. Don't you know who he is?" No one did, to the amusement of both men. "He's an original member of the Mets," Mitchell would tell them. "He's my friend." It's a friendship forged nearly 50 years ago, interrupted by decades of separation and searching by Mitchell and resumed about four years ago. Mitchell's family, aware of his wish to reconnect, trolled the Internet, finding Drake at a Mets reunion in New Jersey. Sunday, Drake came to Mitchell's home in Sidney for a four-day visit. They laughed and joked and marveled again at the strength of a relationship neither fully understood when it began on a hot U.S. Army base in the deep south at a time when full integration was still a dream. Drake was a draftee from Little Rock, Ark. trying to keep alive his dream of playing major league baseball while he was serving his country. Mitchell was the 7-year-old son of a career soldier returned from duty in Germany and new to the Georgia base. That summer, the young boy discovered the Fort Gordon Rams and a young, talented infielder who asked Mitchell if he wanted to be the bat boy. "I could see he was interested in baseball," said Drake during lunch at a local restaurant Wednesday. Drake remembered when he fell in love with the game. The two played catch. Sometimes, Mitchell would go the base recreation center where Drake worked. They were so different in age and in race. Then, Mitchell was too young to understand what it meant to be a young black adult in Georgia. Drake, of course, did. A year or two after meeting, Mitchell's father was transferred to Taiwan. Mitchell got a baseball glove, a bat, a handshake, and much later, when he could fully understand, an outlook on life. "Of all the hello's and good-bye's, his was the one I remember most," said Mitchell, while Drake nodded. "I knew a thank-you would be in order." Mitchell's story to this point became a column I wrote four years ago. Then, I couldn't reach Drake who had returned to his home in Los Angeles. Wednesday, at lunch, I introduced myself. Meeting Mitchell wasn't a coincidence, Drake said. There was a reason that maybe still isn't clear 50 years later. Drake was surprised, but not stunned when Mitchell walked up to his table at the hotel where the Mets reunion and autograph session took place. He's met a lot of people in his 74 years and has usually found the goodness in them, even under trying circumstances. "At first I thought he as a typical fan," Drake said. "When he started talking about Fort Gordon I knew right away." Drake can't say he thought about Mitchell much over the years. Neither did he forget the young bat boy who would go to the gym to fold towels and stay out of the way of the soldiers.� "He would get picked on by the ballplayers a little bit. It was all in fun, but I could see it bothered him. I'd say, come with me. Let's play catch." Drake signed with the Chicago Cubs for $1,500 and was later assigned to Macon, Ga. to play for Pepper Martin in the so-called Sally League. He was the first African-American to play in the league he says. The most hurtful part of that season? "Not being able to sleep in the same hotels with my teammates. Not being able to eat with them. I could get carry-out or go across the river to a (black-owned restaurant.)" In the next breath, Drake tells of Martin's effort to get him seated with the team at a restaurant in Indiana. Martin, nicknamed the Wild Horse of the Osage, was a third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals' "Gashouse Gang" in the 1930s and colorblind. Drake remembers one of his first trips to spring training with the Cubs after his two years in the Army. He was one of three black ballplayers in a group of 50 minor leaguers were assigned to a barracks-style building. "Every night I would pray. They must have thought I was from another planet. "But I had a good spring training. When camp broke, everyone was on their knees praying but two." Monday, Mitchell and Drake had breakfast with Roger Katz, the mayor of Augusta and a baseball fan. Katz invited Drake to speak to the city council that night. He told the story of a Cubs tryout he attended in Winnipeg, Manitoba and the sore arm he had. He couldn't throw across the infield. Discouraged, he called the grandmother who raised him. Don't worry, he was told. She would pray for him. "We had a big snowstorm," said Drake smiling. "We couldn't use the field for two weeks. I soaked my arm in the bath tub every day. I was ready." The Mets drafted him off the Cubs roster. His two-year, major league career was the proverbial cup of coffee. In 53 games he hit .153. His older brother, Solly, played parts of three seasons with the Cubs, Phillies and Dodgers. Together, they were the first African-American brothers to play major league baseball. Early Thursday morning, Drake said good-bye to Mitchell and his wife, Bonnie, and began his trip back to Los Angeles. A graduate of Philander Smith College in Little Rock, he's a retired investigator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He teaches Sunday School at the Greater Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, where his brother, the Rev. Dr. Solomon Drake, is pastor to a 6,000-member congregation. They've listened to the story of how a young white boy and a young black adult became lasting friends. It shouldn't be forgotten. Edgy DC Nov 19 2008 10:38 AM Jack Aker, out of work and vulnerable like the rest of us. This old ballplayer understands life better than most by Rabbi Ben Kamin, Spiritual Life Examiner Jack Aker, a name known to aficionados of the national pastime, is something of a legend. But if his baseball card could talk, you�d hear a lot more than breezy play-by-play. Here�s a guy who made more appearances (495) as a relief pitcher than anybody in his time, but found himself taken out of the game quite before he expected. Like anybody suddenly not doing the thing we�ve been doing forever, Jack found himself looking down the abyss�he was tearful, anxious, and despondent. Baseball players are real people, in spite of the hype we impose on them, and their souls hurt, their spirits droop, just like all hard-working Americans. Jack won the Sporting News �Fireman of the Year� award in 1966 and played for the Kansas City and then Oakland Athletics, the Seattle Pilots, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, and New York Mets. When I met him some years ago, he was pitching coach of the Cleveland Indians; I caught my breath short, extending and receiving hands of friendship with a living and breathing major leaguer who was on a first-name basis with such stars as Phil Niekro and Tom Seaver. I saw him at his tallest. Arriving on the green natural field before game time, Jack came for me, in full regalia�snappy cap and shimmering team jacket. He walked across fresh, chalky baselines with a certain, lanky royalty. There were the first faint smells of popcorn and beer from the bowels from the bowels of the old stadium as the coach escorted me into the clubhouse. Jack took me into a comfortably large room filled with open booths that served as repositories for the players. �Here,� he declared, �we meet and discuss the game plan.� Like a knothole sentry, he walked past the colognes and hair dryers of the bath area towards a large bin containing thick, polished baseball bats. He said, somberly: �Nobody can touch a man�s bat. You see, Ben, they are numbered according to his uniform number. The bat is a very personal matter to a guy. Nobody can touch it.� I understood what a sacrilege was and I shook my head in awe of power and success. A little over a year later, following a season of fallen expectations and profits, Jack (and the team manager) were both summarily dismissed from their positions. Now, this same Jack, record-holder, my invincible hero, sat in the front of my automobile, shoulders slumped, his head in his hands. We were taking a ride in the country as the venerable coach tried to sort things out. His prestige, his income, and his self-image were suddenly as powdery as the faded chalk lines of that emerald ball field he had once ruled. Jack was gone, the manager was gone, as well as a number of the muscular, sleek, swaggering players I had met that shining afternoon�in a different season. A person is so much more than his baseball card, her resume, his cellular list of �contacts.� Jack is doing okay, taking in his children and grandchildren, knowing well what it means to be laid off, discarded, discontinued. Maybe this old ballplayer understands America right now better than most. MFS62 Nov 19 2008 11:00 AM Thank you, Edgy. Anyone who ever lost a job knows that you didn't have to bold that portion. We would have noticed it and commiserated(sp?) with Jack. But the way it was said was an unexpected pleasure in a piece like that, wasn't it? Later Edgy DC Nov 19 2008 11:03 AM I was just imitating the original publishing, which set it as a pullquote. Farmer Ted Nov 19 2008 12:07 PM Tim Foli will return to manage Washington's Class AAA affiliate in 2009. Met Hunter Nov 19 2008 10:37 PM John Stearns will be back managing the Nats AA team in Harrisburg as well. Benjamin Grimm Nov 20 2008 06:14 AM Tim Bogar was among three who interviewed for a spot on the Phillies coaching staff. The problem is, they thought they were interviewing Doug Flynn. Edgy DC Nov 21 2008 10:06 AM John Nunnaly, batting coach with the Columbus Clippers. Edgy DC Nov 23 2008 08:56 PM Jeff Innis, Cape Cod League Hall-of-Famer. Edgy DC Nov 28 2008 11:45 AM Tim Bogar formally accepts the Red Sox offer to coach first. John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 28 2008 12:37 PM The last 5 or 6 messages belong in that other thread. Edgy DC Dec 04 2008 10:34 AM I consider coaching jobs part of retirement. Rico's was a coaching job. I hear you, though. Nonetheless, I'm sticking with it for one more thread, as Joe McEwing takes over the Winston-Salem Former Warthogs. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 04 2008 10:43 AM Just for that it's my duty to report that Jason Hardtke has been named hitting coach of the Missoula Osprey (Dbaggs -Pioneer League). The Baggs also named Brett Butler manager of the Reno Aces (PCL). G-Fafif Dec 04 2008 01:04 PM I once received a letter letting me know Brett Butler would come and speak to my employees and motivate them with his life experiences and faith in Christ for only $20,000. How much is each Ace going to have to ante up for the privilege? Edgy DC Dec 16 2008 09:38 AM West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff. Benjamin Grimm Dec 16 2008 09:56 AM You must have overlooked Jerry Cram in your Google subscription: ="Our Sports Central":3gap6pnt] SAN JOSE, CALIF December 15, 2008- The San Jose Giants announced their 2009 coaching staff today with Andy Skeels joining the club as manager, Jerry Cram as pitching coach and Gary Davenport returning as hitting coach. Yukiya Oba also returns as the team's athletic trainer. ... Jerry Cram is familiar with San Jose after spending three years as the Giants pitching coach from 2001-2003. The former major leaguer is now entering his ninth season in the San Francisco organization after working the last five years (2004-2008) as pitching coach of the Salem- Keizer Volcanoes (Short-Season). During his time in the Giants farm system, Cram's teams have won three league championships: San Jose in 2001 and Salem-Keizer in 2006 and 2007. Cram spent parts of four seasons in the major leagues with the Kansas City Royals (1969, 1976) and New York Mets (1974-1975), compiling a 0-3 record and 2.98 ERA over 23 career appearances. Cram has devoted 28 years to the Kansas City organization, the last 14 as a pitching instructor, in a tenure that ended in 1997. Cram then spent three seasons as a pitching coach in the Colorado Rockies minor league system before joining the San Francisco organization prior to the 2001 campaign. ... The San Jose Giants open their 2009 season on Thursday, April 9th at Municipal Stadium vs. the Stockton Ports. The Opening Night Extravaganza will include a post-game fireworks display, 2009 magnet schedule giveaway, the return of Gigante and much more. [/quote:3gap6pnt] metsguyinmichigan Dec 16 2008 12:29 PM ="Edgy DC":3l94882y]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:3l94882y] The Whitecaps have a thing on Sunday afternoons where you can either go on the field to play catch, or go near the dugout where all the players stand in a line and sign autographs. (kids get a free soda and hot dog, too. We got to a lot of Sunday games.) So last year I brought my treasured Mets book, sought out DePastino to sign it and tried to talk to him about his short Mets tenure. Even though there was no one else around and nothing going on, he had absolutely nothing to say. Was disappointed. Maybe I'll have better luck with Benny. G-Fafif Dec 16 2008 12:37 PM ="Edgy DC":1sfgljfz]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:1sfgljfz] What's Distefano's Met pedigree (other than breaking up David Cone's no-hitter?) At least this will give Distefano and DePastino a chance to exchange each other's misdirected mail. Benjamin Grimm Dec 16 2008 12:49 PM He was a replacement player with the Mets in spring training 1995. G-Fafif Dec 16 2008 12:59 PM Now that you say it, it sounds remotely familiar though I have to confess I might have missed it on a multiple choice. Any other ex-big leaguers in that camp? metsguyinmichigan Dec 16 2008 02:07 PM Stan Jefferson, I think. I saw a couple of those spring games. HahnSolo Dec 16 2008 02:25 PM ="G-Fafif":1lmhw7l1] ="Edgy DC":1lmhw7l1]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:1lmhw7l1] What's Distefano's Met pedigree (other than breaking up David Cone's no-hitter?) At least this will give Distefano and DePastino a chance to exchange each other's misdirected mail.[/quote:1lmhw7l1] Italian restaurants in West Michigan are scurrying to bid for the postgame spread. HahnSolo Dec 16 2008 02:26 PM ="metsguyinmichigan":2a90z7f9]Stan Jefferson, I think. I saw a couple of those spring games.[/quote:2a90z7f9] Two guys I went to high school with, Cliff Gonzalez (8th round pick of the Mets in '85) and Chris Walpole, were in that camp. Gonzalez and Jefferson knew each other having both been from Co-op City. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 17 2008 09:11 AM ] DYKSTRA DROPS THE BALL By KEITH J. KELLY December 17, 2008 -- FORMER New York Mets out fielder Lenny Dykstra appears to be striking out with his magazine, Players Club. Dykstra, who helped the 1986 Mets capture the World Series before landing with the Philadelphia Phillies, is leaving behind a string of unpaid bills and a constant parade of shifting editors and office addresses. In the latest upheaval, Chris Frankie, the acting editor, resigned Dec. 4 along with two other staffers. Now Loren Feldman, former editor-in-chief of Philadelphia magazine, is said to be ready to join as the new chief editor. "Loren Feldman is the new editor," said Dykstra. Meanwhile, Frankie says he's owed back pay. But Dykstra sees things differently: "That's not true. Frankie owes me money. Whatever he's talking about is delusional." Counters Frankie, "That's beyond ridiculous. How could an employee owe an employer money?" Beyond three months' back pay, Frankie said he's also owed for business expenses. Frankie, who had originally helped Dykstra write the TheStreet.com's "Nails on the Numbers" column, got the editor job in August after Dykstra's talks with Neil Amdur, a former sports editor at The New York Times, collapsed at the last minute after a fight over Amdur's ability to hire deputies. "I did fly out there for a meeting with Dykstra about the editor's job," Amdur confirmed. "I spent a couple of days with him. He did offer me the job." The last issue of Players Club was published in October, and the November issue will now be combined into a year-end double issue that has yet to appear. His aim with the magazine was to help professional athletes make sensible investments with the money they earn from sports to ensure they don't go broke when their pro careers end. But present and former staffers say that Dykstra, who during his days with Major League Baseball had the nickname "Nails," is tough as nails when it comes to paying his staff or vendors. Frequently, sources said, he got staff to use their own credit cards to pay for ex penses related to the maga zine, and took months to re imburse the employees. Although the magazine is less than a year old, it has al ready had four different printers and three different editors. Several vendors have also stopped doing business with the magazine. The latest vendor to suspend business is Getty Images, which sources say is owed around $40,000. Dykstra claims that's not true. "I have a great relationship with them," he said of Getty. One source who's worked closely with Dykstra said he "has a haphazard way of paying - he just wires you money." "It's always that the money is just about to come in and everyone will be paid," this person said, adding that if someone demands payment, then Dykstra turns on them. "If you demand payment, then you are the enemy. "He always feels abandoned by people, but he doesn't seem to realize that he's the reason people abandon him." Frayed Knot Dec 17 2008 09:24 AM This surprises me not. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 17 2008 09:26 AM Gotta love the irony in this venture being all about athletes spending wisely. Edgy DC Dec 17 2008 09:26 AM Another day, another house of cards. Edgy DC Dec 22 2008 03:04 PM Aaron Ledesma, infield coach for the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees. The Yankees get a AAA infield coach? What a ripoff! Frayed Knot Dec 22 2008 07:36 PM Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore. Edgy DC Dec 26 2008 08:28 AM DJ has no regrets. Of course he doesn't. He got to be a Met. D.J. Dozier had a Bo Jackson-like versatility Posted to: 50 Greatest Sports By Ed Miller The Virginian-Pilot As William, Bill, or even Billy, it just would not have worked as well. William Henry "D.J." Dozier would have been no less the athlete without that alliterative name, smooth as one of his touchdown runs or fielding gems at shortstop. That name - "D.J. Dozier" - was the shiny bow on top of the package of prep stardom. And Dozier was the complete package: a three-sport standout at Kempsville High, wooed by virtually every major football program in the country, coveted by virtually every pro baseball scout. Virginia Tech coach Bill Dooley came to the Norfolk Sports Club in December 1982 and made a public pitch for Dozier, something that would not be allowed under recruiting rules today, when coaches can't woo prospects through the media. Major league teams waved dollar signs in front of him, trying to convince him to skip football and play baseball. Dozier, No. 12 on the list of greatest athletes from South Hampton Roads, chose football - and Penn State. Later, after several years in the NFL, he reversed course and picked up a bat and glove. Good enough to briefly make it to the majors, he was, in an era of two-sport dabblers, a local, lower-wattage version of guys such as Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders. "Obviously, when you look at the statistics, the numbers are certainly not what I hoped they would have been," said Dozier, now 43 and back in Virginia Beach working as a business consultant. "But the fact that I had the opportunity to go that far with what I would call God-given ability is a tremendous blessing." A dynamo at Penn State, Dozier forever will be a made man among Nittany Lion greats after leading the team in rushing four straight years, earning All-America honors twice and scoring the winning touchdown in a national championship victory over Miami. Things never clicked for him in the NFL, though. A first-round pick, Dozier missed time with injuries and didn't like the way the Vikings were using him - which was not too often. After three years, he signed with the Mets and began the climb through the minors in 1990. Meanwhile, contract talks with the Vikings stalled. Dozier finally re-signed with them halfway through the 1990 season. Dozier finished out that season and played six games with Detroit in 1991. With his baseball career seemingly blossoming, he left football behind. He would play just 25 games for the Mets, though, in 1992. In 1994, at 28, he moved on with his life, retiring from baseball. Dozier has coached, traveled the world doing missionary work, worked as a financial planner and investment banker. He moved back to Virginia recently from Allentown, Pa. He brought with him no regrets. Dozier said he remembered a former Kempsville teammate who played at Lock Haven University. Dozier knew he was good enough to play at Penn State and told his coaches. They offered him a chance to come to Happy Valley. In the end, though, the friend chose the security of staying at Lock Haven, later second-guessing his decision not to take his shot. "I never forgot what he told me about the regret part of it," Dozier said. "That's what it was for me with baseball. I look at it as something that was a bit nuts, but I really felt that I could do it. "The biggest thing about it is I didn't want to look back and regret not trying." He'll never have to. Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372 ed.miller@pilotonline.com metsguyinmichigan Dec 26 2008 11:17 AM That's a nice story! Plus, I'd forgotten how nasty those old Tides caps were. G-Fafif Dec 26 2008 01:32 PM ="Frayed Knot":34ueq9bz]Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore.[/quote:34ueq9bz] How do you suppose he'll greet his new players...or monstrously huge batboy? themetfairy Dec 26 2008 02:12 PM ="G-Fafif":1emwxaju] ="Frayed Knot":1emwxaju]Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore.[/quote:1emwxaju] How do you suppose he'll greet his new players...or monstrously huge batboy?[/quote:1emwxaju] No - just with a simple, "Welcome Abordick," of course! Edgy DC Dec 30 2008 07:42 AM Felix Mantilla, spreading the good chromosomes around. Mantilla earning court time at Yale December 30, 2008 NEWS-SUN STAFF REPORT Mundelein High grad Raffi Mantilla has worked his way into the playing rotation for the Yale University men's basketball team. The sophomore guard has played in all eight Bulldog games (2-6 record), and is averaging nearly 10 minutes of action each game. He's scored a total of 18 points in those eight contests. Mantilla is the grandson of former major-league baseball player Felix Mantilla, who played with the Milwaukee Braves, New York Mets and Boston Red Sox in a long pro career. MFS62 Jan 03 2009 02:29 PM In keeping with the three name thread in the non-baseball forum, I'll always remember him as Felix Lamela Mantilla. (I dunno why, but his middle name always stuck in my mind) Later Edgy DC Jan 03 2009 02:31 PM Yup, and time to retire Brogna 2008.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Wait... what?

Did the Yankees really have the soda vending guy dressed up as the ghost of Lou Gehrig?

And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy?

(I have to confess: I know nothing about how the Yankees celebrated the closing of their ballpark. I didn't watch and didn't read any of the accounts.)

[HahnSolo]

Yes. And Yes.

[metirish]

I read something about forcing 105 year old Julia Ruth Stevens (Babe's daughter) to throw out the first pitch , wanting everything to look wonderful Hank had her warm up in the bullpen before hand.

[soupcan]

I've got questions.

When the soda guy/ghost of Lou Gehrig was introduced, was the rain-like applause hard or soft?

Also - when the ghost of Bill Dickey came out, was he able to catch Babe Ruth's non-blood relative's first pitch while still holding his tray of cotton candy?

[Benjamin Grimm]

You're making it all sound so... so... cheesy!

[seawolf17]

="soupcan":7nnlxn67]Also - when the ghost of Bill Dickey came out, was he able to catch Babe Ruth's non-blood relative's first pitch while still holding his tray of cotton candy?[/quote:7nnlxn67] No, but he did get docked pay for missing an hour's worth of selling time. Dude didn't make his quota for the day.

SteveJRogers Sep 23 2008 02:53 PM

="Benjamin Grimm"] And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? Well an actual torch would be. Symbolic, like home plate, different story.

soupcan Sep 23 2008 02:57 PM

="SteveJRogers"] ="Benjamin Grimm"] And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? Well an actual torch would be. Symbolic, like home plate, different story. Since when are you the arbiter of all things cheesy or non? A torch, while a bit odd I admit, is nowhere near as stupid as bringing out hot dog hawkers dressed as legendary ballplayers.

AG/DC Sep 29 2008 09:23 AM

Now and perhaps forever: the only Tracy in Mets History. LOCAL LEGENDS: Coeburn High School�s Tracy Stallard Published: September 28, 2008 BY TIM HAYES BRISTOL HERALD COURIER It�s both unfair and unfortunate that Tracy Stallard�s baseball career has come to be defined by one moment. He never lost a game while pitching at Coeburn High School and his exploits are the stuff of legend in Wise County. He put together a respectable seven-season career in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. Yet, despite all those accomplishments, Stallard is still remembered most for one moment. One pitch. One game. It occurred on the final day of the 1961 regular season at Yankee Stadium. Stallard was 23-years-old and in his second season in the big leagues with Boston. He appeared in 43 games that summer for the Red Sox, shuffling between the bullpen and the starting rotation. Boston manager Pinky Higgins decided to start the young right-hander in the final game of the season against a potent New York Yankees lineup. He was solid through three innings and started the fourth inning by striking out Tony Kubek. Then Roger Maris stepped into the batter�s box. Maris had tied Babe Ruth�s single-season home run record of 60, and this game represented his final chance to surpass a mark that had stood for 34 years. In the fourth, he blasted a Stallard pitch down the right-field line. The ball soared into the stands, Maris placed his name in the record book and Stallard forever became the answer to a trivia question. While Stallard and Maris will be eternally linked because of that pitch, there�s more to the Stallard story. Much more. The native son Carroll Dale was a standout athlete in high school during the mid-1950s. The Wise native was so good, in fact, that he went on to play football at Virginia Tech and eventually earned two Super Bowl titles as a wide receiver with the Green Bay Packers. But there was a pitcher at rival Coeburn that Dale and many others just couldn�t solve. �I know every time we played Coeburn, he would have 16 or 17 strikeouts and that was it,� Dale said. �I don�t think anybody was very competitive when he was pitching.� That pitcher was Stallard, and many players went down swinging at his fastball for four unbeaten years. His best season with the Blue Knights came as a senior, when he went 8-0 and tossed two no-hitters. Those numbers earned him a spot in the Virginia High School League Hall of Fame in 2005. His performance also attracted major-league scouts. He signed with the Red Sox in 1956, thus beginning his professional career. Stallard starred in the minor leagues and made his big league debut on Sept. 24, 1960, at Cleveland Stadium. In the ninth inning of Boston�s 11-7 loss to the Cleveland Indians, Stallard entered and worked a scoreless inning. He registered his first major-league strikeout during that outing, fanning Woodie Held for the second out. Back in Coeburn, it was a big deal. �It was a very proud town,� Coeburn resident Steve Hubbard Sr. recalled. Stallard also saw a familiar face when he arrived in Boston. Scott County native Dave Hillman was also a pitcher for Boston, and the duo gave the Red Sox the distinction of having two Southwest Virginia natives on the roster at the same time. �He was a great teammate,� Hillman said. �We had quite a few conversations in the bullpen and everywhere else in Boston about pitching � He could pitch, and he had good stuff.� The moment Stallard appeared in four games for Boston in 1960. The next year he compiled a 2-7 record and a 4.88 ERA and allowed 15 home runs, including the one on Oct. 1 that proved to be historically significant. But there are some things that many people forget or simply don�t know about his encounter with Maris. Maris� solo blast was the only run Stallard allowed in seven innings that day in Boston�s 1-0 loss. It was also the only hit Maris had in seven career at-bats against Stallard. Stallard also played five more seasons in the majors after that fateful day at Yankee Stadium. After pitching in just one game for the Red Sox in 1962, Stallard was traded to the New York Mets, along with Al Moran and Pumpsie Green, for Felix Mantilla. Stallard�s stats weren�t too impressive during those two seasons in New York � he went 6-17 with a 4.71 ERA in 1963 and 10-20 with a 3.79 ERA in 1964 � but keep in mind that the Mets lost a combined 220 games those two seasons, so he didn�t have much run support. For instance, in a August 4, 1964 game against the San Francisco Giants, Stallard allowed just one earned run in 10 1/3 innings. Yet, he settled for no decision, and the Mets eventually lost 4-3 in 14 innings. Earlier that season in a game at Shea Stadium, Stallard was again on the wrong side of history. He was the losing pitcher on June 21, when Philadelphia�s Jim Bunning tossed a perfect game against the Mets. Stallard would be on the move again in 1964 as he and Elio Chacon were dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Gordie Richardson and Johnny Lewis. Stallard had his best season in the summer of 1964, going 11-8 with a 3.38 ERA in 40 games (26 starts) for the Cardinals. He was in the same rotation as Bob Gibson, and his battery mates included Tim McCarver and Bob Uecker. One year later, Stallard went 1-5 with a 5.68 ERA for the Cardinals. It was his final season in the majors. His final tally was a 30-57 record with four saves and a 4.17 ERA in 183 major league games. He also fared well against some of the league�s greatest hitters. Willie Mays hit just .200 and struck out six times in 30 at-bats against the kid from Coeburn, while Harmon Killebrew, Mickey Mantle and Ernie Banks were also among his strikeout victims. These days The 71-year-old Stallard keeps a low profile these days. In fact, numerous attempts to reach him for this story were unsuccessful. He is still competitive, as evidenced by the fact he competes in several area golf tournaments. This summer, he won the super seniors division at a prestigious tournament at Lonesome Pine Country Club in Big Stone Gap. Maris� record was broken in 1998 and now ranks just seventh all-time on the single-season home run list. Still, Maris and Stallard will be forever linked in baseball history because of that one moment in 1961. thayes@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2570

John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 29 2008 09:30 AM

Shame on Stallard for making Tim Hayes write that story without his contribution. I read where Stallard was quite the dashing young stud around the city.

AG/DC Sep 29 2008 09:42 AM

Decent job grinding it out anyhow by young Hayes.

AG/DC Oct 06 2008 03:01 PM

Rusty Tillman is: a former Mets outfielder claiming to be Jose Canseco's first source for steroids homeless and living in the woods Bridget Murphy of the The Florida Times Union joins the Rico Brogna Journalism All Star Team. From pro-baseball to homeless Hometown baseball hero Rusty Tillman lived a life many dream about. Now he calls a tent his home. By The Times-Union Story by BRIDGET MURPHY Photos by JON M. FLETCHER "It's not like they put a sign out there, 'This is where Rusty Tillman's ball landed.' " The ex-slugger is playing down his glory days from a bench in the away dugout at Fletcher High School. But Kerry Jerome "Rusty" Tillman is basking in not-so-secret pleasure as an old schoolmate is doing his best to resurrect one day in particular. JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Rusty Tillman holds his 2-year-old daughter Sarah during an afternoon visit. While circumstances have left Tillman homeless in Mayport, he tries to make it a habit to visit his daughter daily. It was a Senators home game, must have been 1977, Fletcher Athletic Director Joe Reynolds remembers. A slender 17-year-old in a white-and-purple uniform stepped up to the plate. Then with a crack of wood on stitched leather, Tillman ripped a moon shot. Fans at the Neptune Beach school swarmed the fence to watch the rocket rise up, up and over the outfield wall. Reynolds was coaching on the track and sent one of his runners after the baseball. He says no one has smashed one so far since. Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal.Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal.Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal. "I remember where I was when President Kennedy was killed," Reynolds says. "... I remember when he hit that baseball." The story means the world to Tillman, now 48. Now homeless. He is desperate to cling to the things that are good in his life. Even if he has to flash back 30 years to find them. Those were the days when Chuck Fisette, a lefty who threw 94-mph "smoke" for the Senators, said pitchers cringed when Tillman came up to bat. "You knew he was going to hit it out of the park. You just didn't know how far or in what direction," said the now-veteran Jacksonville corrections officer. By the time Tillman graduated, he'd turned down a Cincinnati Reds offer. But nobody knew how far Tillman would go. Or later, after his 1979 selection by the New York Mets and time on two other major league teams, how far he would fall. Or the kind of secrets he was keeping. Most people still don't know. Because while Reynolds and Tillman were reminiscing in the dugout that July morning, Reynolds had no idea that Tillman was living in a tent in the woods a few miles away. He had no idea that Tillman had been a visitor at Fisette's workplace in recent years, or that he was selling his blood plasma to buy his only luxuries: cell phone minutes, Copenhagen snuff and Sonic banana smoothies. JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Tillman in a 1977-78 Fletcher High School yearbook. Sometimes Tillman also splurged on bug spray. It saved his skin from the blood-suckers that left itchy reminders he had an address marked only by the tags surveyors left on trees. 'Tillman Country Club' Somebody's watchdogs tattle on Tillman as he sneaks through a hole in the fence behind Mayport apartments. But the intruder doesn't hesitate. He rolls his bicycle into knee-high weeds, away from manicured lawns, away from painted parking spots and dead-bolted doors, away from everything else there is for anybody to protect. When the animals sense it, the barking stops. At 6 feet tall and about 200 pounds, it's mostly the creatures that slither in the grass that worry Tillman in the woods. The muscles that served him in pro ball - a bulk strangely still there - won't help with a snakebite. He carries a flashlight at night to spot snakes and zips the opening of his gray tent to keep them out. A blue tarp on top of that tent was all the protection Tillman had during Tropical Storm Fay in August. He stayed put even after two trees crashed onto the tents of homeless friends who left. "Living out here, I have learned a lot," he says. "I never thought I'd be here. I guess once I get back, I'll learn to appreciate what I had." Tillman calls the maroon mountain bike that a pastor gave him - after a promise he wasn't on drugs - his "Escalade." He says he's been clean at least three months. Tillman parks the bike in front of the camp he calls "Tillman Country Club." His belongings include blankets, a radio and a battery-operated unit that delivers shock therapy to his sports-worn knees. He sleeps next to a saw blade and a kitchen knife for protection. Tillman also has a portable TV. He powers it with a car battery that needs a recharge every four days. He has nothing left from his baseball days. No player cards. No uniform caps. No money. Tillman is a man whose family wants to help - begs to help. He is a man with smarts, with guts, with pride - yes, plenty of that. It is the piston that drives him to believe that after his journey, as he says, "from the penthouse to the craphouse," he will get his life together without charity. He knows there is a prize waiting for him when he does. Her name is Sarah Tillman. She turned 2 last month. Nearly every evening, Tillman pedals from his camp to her mother's home in the posh Selva Marina section of Atlantic Beach. Then the father tucks the toddler into bed and slips back into the woods. "I'll probably die from worrying someday," Tillman says by his tent on the kind of summer afternoon that demands air conditioning and cool drinks. "I think what keeps me going now is seeing my daughter graduate from high school." If Tillman makes it to Sarah's elementary school days, he says there will be another reward too: a Major League Baseball pension of about $35,000 a year. Kate Weatherby, Sarah's mother and Tillman's ex-girlfriend, says there's nothing she can do to help him in the meantime. "He knows what he needs to do to get things in order. It's making the choice to do that," she says. But how does a hometown hero who rises to a champagne life skid to the streets? There were fast times and women, divorces and drugs, is how Tillman tells it. Then there were secrets about the drugs, some Tillman said never should have come out. Even after he bottomed out, Tillman said he never sold out his baseball family to make a buck. Instead, he accepted it as his short-lived fame slipped away with his modest fortune. Instead, he fumed as he watched ex-Oakland Athletics teammate Jose Canseco rake in attention and money with two books about baseball's steroids scandal. Tillman said four teammates, including Canseco, bought and used the steroids Tillman smuggled from Mexico when he played for the A's. It was 1986, a year after the Mets traded Tillman and he ended up in Oakland. Bringing the 'juice' Once his steroids confession starts spilling out, Tillman makes it clear he's not naming names like Canseco did. Tillman sees himself as a backup outfielder who knew how to take one for the team. "The code is whatever you do, you're on your own. I'm not going to take you down with me. I didn't get the time that these guys got. But I was one of the lucky ones who got to be around these guys. And I kept my mouth shut." Canseco didn't mention Tillman in his two books and didn't respond to interview requests through his attorney, Gregory Emerson. In his 2008 book Vindicated, Canseco describes getting his first steroids in 1984 from a weight-lifter friend from high school. "I was his first in major leagues," Tillman says. "... I'm the one who started bringing it from Mexico." Tillman said he got the steroids when he'd make extra money playing in a Mexican pro league in the off-season. He started using them after a torn rotator cuff sidelined him. He'd already suffered through a wrist injury, getting so many cortisone shots that his black skin turned white around the injection site. Tillman also had multiple knee surgeries. The steroids were cheap and easy to buy at Mexican pharmacies. And they got results. When Tillman took charter flights back to America, he said no one would check a pro ball player's bags. When his steroids supply ran low, someone he trusted crossed the border and brought him more. The person he named refused to do a Times-Union interview. "It wasn't that I was trying to make money on this," Tillman explains of the 30 to 40 boxes he said he sold for $400 or $500 each. "It was for the family." He took a shot a week, something to give him an edge so he was ready to come off the bench. "A lot of people think it's cheating, but if you don't go out there and perform, they're going to say you're a bum." In March 1987, the A's released Tillman after 11 months and 22 games. His best highlight came off a pitch from Hall of Fame lefty Steve Carlton that he hit out of the park in a game against the White Sox on Sept. 23, 1986. By 1988, Tillman was with the San Francisco Giants, when he hit his second and last home run in the majors. After that, he went back to the minors and was expecting another call-up after a hitting streak. But the call never came. While Tillman said no one ever caught him, accused him or arrested him for steroids, he suspects the game blackballed him for it. "Word might have gotten around that the real Juiceman was here," he said. In the 1990s, Tillman went back to Mexico, helping lead his team in Tabasco to a 1993 championship. In all, he had played 38 games in the majors, 11 seasons in the minors and about six seasons abroad. Tillman says he made maybe a half-million dollars in all and has no regrets about steroids or anything else. "There's a dark side of all of sports. What I done is what I done." Back to work In early August, Tillman got a job in the kitchen of a seafood place in Jacksonville Beach. After more than a year on the streets, there was joy in his voice as he prepared for his first shift. "We'll see how it goes," he said. "I mean, I'm blessed for what I got." JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Rusty Tillman at his campsite in the Mayport area with the portable television he powers off a car battery in his tent. Hugh Palmer, a social worker at the mission where the ex-athlete eats and showers, said Tillman doesn't talk about his past. He said Tillman has an unusual mix of humility and confidence that makes him stand out among his peers. "To see a homeless person that's kind of larger than life, that just goes back to homelessness can happen to anyone," Palmer said. Tillman has plenty of job experience outside of baseball. He's had a few jobs in food service, including cooking for the Jaguars at their downtown stadium last season. In the late 1990s, he worked as a heavy equipment operator in Jacksonville. At the time, he was married to his second wife, Alycia Tillman. The 34-year-old divorcee called her ex-husband, who also has two grown sons from prior relationships, a good provider who worked a second job at Krystal to make extra money. The two of them went to work renovating his grandmother's home on the block he grew up on in Atlantic Beach, after marrying in 1999. It was a few doors from the home where Tillman's late father, a Jacksonville Beach city mechanic, and late mother, a school custodian, raised him, his three brothers and his sister. But Alycia Tillman said her husband started indulging a drug addiction when the two moved back to his hometown. Tillman said he had his own reasons for their split. When a judge granted the uncontested divorce in 2003, a copy of the order he mailed to Tillman came back marked like this: "Tillman moved. Left no address. Unable to forward. Return to sender." In September, Alycia Tillman said she was shocked to hear that her ex was living in the woods. "If I'd known he was in that situation, he could have come to me. If it's not Kerry's way," she said, using Tillman's given name, "he just won't do it. If he can't get it, he doesn't feel he needs it." After a few weeks of restaurant night shifts this summer, Tillman decided he'd rather see Sarah. He was missing those nightly tuck-ins. But a lucky break was coming his way this time. A former Fletcher schoolmate with a plumbing company agreed to hire him. Tillman had been riding his bicycle past Brian Christy's business for months, promising to learn quickly if he took a chance on him. A month ago, Tillman got his call-up. "Rusty knows what having a lot of money in his pocket is about and he also knows what not having any is about," Christy said. "A guy like that, you're not going to beat him down. It's his decision if he's going to get back on top of his game." After work on Sept. 19, Tillman planned to meet Sarah and her mother at Fletcher High School. The three of them were going to dinner to celebrate the toddler's birthday. Before that, Fletcher baseball coach Kevin Brown spotted his former classmate on the diamond. He told Tillman he was thrilled to see him at school, that he should come back and teach the boys how to really hit. Then the coach found a couple of bats. For the first time in years, Tillman stepped onto the field and took a swing. "Oh man, this brings back memories for real," Tillman said. "Oh yeah, I could see myself hitting some. I'd miss a whole bunch. But I'd hit some." bridget.murphy@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4161. Video: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1156018486/bctid1836680060

AG/DC Oct 17 2008 06:29 AM

John Stearns makes Hall of Fame at Colorado University, who could use some good pub. Frankly, I'm surprised it's taken this long, considering the proliferation and dubious standards of Halls of Fame, but this does shed some light on one of the most enduring number-related mysteries in Met history. According to this photo, John wore 12 as an All-America defensive back, which could explain half of the 1977 number swap with Lee Mazzilli. Stearns into CU Hall of Fame Posted by GEOFF MORROW, Of The Patriot-News October 16, 2008 Harrisburg Senators manager John Stearns in his college football pose at the University of Colorado. He'll be inducted into the CU Hall of Fame on Friday. Considered one of the most prolific two-sport stars in University of Colorado history, Harrisburg Senators manager John Stearns will be inducted into the Buffaloes' Hall of Fame today in Boulder. Stearns, 57, starred for the Colorado football and baseball teams in the early 1970s. A first-team all-conference selection as a senior safety, Stearns earned the nickname "Bad Dude" as one of the most feared hitters in team history. He still holds the Buffaloes' career record with 16 interceptions and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 1973 NFL draft. But football wasn't even his best game, and he never played a down in the NFL. Stearns earned All-American status in baseball in '73, leading the NCAA in home runs (15) that year. His career numbers at Colorado include a .366 batting average, 26 home runs, 101 RBIs and 48 stolen bases. A catcher, he Stearns was the No. 2 overall pick in the 1973 amateur draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He was traded to the New York Mets after the '74 season and became a four-time National League all-star. After retiring, he became a scout and coach and managed the Senators in 2006 and 2008. In other Senators news, pitching coach Rick Tomlin, who spent the past four years with the Senators, is not returning to the organization, a fact confirmed by Bobby Williams, the Nationals' director of player development. Senators president Kevin Kulp also announced that Dan Watson, the team's secondary radio broadcaster last year, completed his internship in September and is not returning. Kulp said the team will look to hire another media intern, probably in January. For more on Stearns' induction, see Friday's edition of The Patriot-News.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 17 2008 07:13 AM

nice

G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:08 AM

Steve Henderson coaching his way into the World Series. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy who couldn't have given at least one already long-suffering fan a better Saturday night 28 years ago. ]Henderson missed winning the NL's Rookie of the Year Award by one vote to Montreal's Andre Dawson in 1977 after hitting .297 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI in 350 at-bats. In 1979 he hit .306 and in 1980, his final season in Flushing, he hit .290. It was that year that he had his most memorable day as a Met, and perhaps his most memorable day in baseball -- until Sunday night. On June 14, Henderson picked up his girlfriend Pam at LaGuardia, proposed to her (she accepted and they are still married) and then took her to the ballpark, where he etched his name into Mets lore for something other than being trade bait. In what has come to be called "The Steve Henderson Game," the left fielder stroked a three-run home run to right that capped a five-run, ninth-inning rally, as the previously awful Mets stunned the Giants, 7-6, to move to within a game of .500 and within six games of the Expos in the NL East. "That was a great, great day," Henderson said with a smile. "I'll always remember that one. But these days are pretty good, too."

AG/DC Oct 21 2008 10:10 AM

I (1) don't remember the proposal angle, which is awesome, and (2) am surprised it's got an eponymous reputation outside of here.

G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:12 AM

It got a cameo in the Shea Goodbye DVD even.

AG/DC Oct 21 2008 10:19 AM

I feel like we coined something.

G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:20 AM

I've been calling it the Steve Henderson Game since probably no later than June 16, 1980.

AG/DC Oct 21 2008 10:27 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 21 2008 12:06 PM

I just checked the calendar. It turns out that it's Shoot Down AG/DC Day. It came up so fast this year.

G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:41 AM

I've been calling it that since probably no later than eleven o'clock this morning.

metirish Oct 21 2008 10:56 AM

="G-Fafif"]Steve Henderson coaching his way into the World Series. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy who couldn't have given at least one already long-suffering fan a better Saturday night 28 years ago. ]Henderson missed winning the NL's Rookie of the Year Award by one vote to Montreal's Andre Dawson in 1977 after hitting .297 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI in 350 at-bats. In 1979 he hit .306 and in 1980, his final season in Flushing, he hit .290. It was that year that he had his most memorable day as a Met, and perhaps his most memorable day in baseball -- until Sunday night. On June 14, Henderson picked up his girlfriend Pam at LaGuardia, proposed to her (she accepted and they are still married) and then took her to the ballpark, where he etched his name into Mets lore for something other than being trade bait. In what has come to be called "The Steve Henderson Game," the left fielder stroked a three-run home run to right that capped a five-run, ninth-inning rally, as the previously awful Mets stunned the Giants, 7-6, to move to within a game of .500 and within six games of the Expos in the NL East. "That was a great, great day," Henderson said with a smile. "I'll always remember that one. But these days are pretty good, too." Nice article on Henderson , can't say I knew much about him before now so thnaks for that.

Farmer Ted Oct 21 2008 12:00 PM

God, how did I miss Henderson with the Rays? Who else didn't know?

AG/DC Oct 21 2008 12:13 PM

The funny thing about the Joe Torre era is, despite how much they struggled to get their heads aobve water, how static a roster they had.

G-Fafif Oct 22 2008 07:26 AM

="AG/DC":5nmwi48e]The funny thing about the Joe Torre era is, despite how much they struggled to get their heads aobve water, how static a roster they had.[/quote:5nmwi48e] Thinking about this observation in the context of my visceral over-the-top enthusiasm on September 28 when Doug Flynn was introduced. Next to Doc and Fonzie, two Mets I'd been waiting forever for to come home, I wasn't more elated to see anybody in a Mets jersey than Doug Flynn. It was bigger than Willie Mays to me, I think. That probably owes to the fact that those lousy teams from '77 to '80, the core of them anyway, stayed together. Those were our guys in (in my case) junior high and high school. Those were the guys we argued on behalf of, if only in our heads: Flynn, Hendu, Mazz, Blood, Swannie, Dude. They weren't very good but they were always there. Showing up counts. It's the difference (along with the perspective of age and expectation) between those lousy teams and the later lousy teams. There was more movement in the early '90s. It's the way the industry worked then, and you'd have been crazy to have hoped Vince Coleman would have hung around one second longer than he had to. By the lousy teams of '02-'04, there was nothing charming about it, certainly not if you'd lived through other dark eras. Maybe someday somebody who was a kid in 2003 will leap to his feet for an Old Timers introduction of Ty Wigginton. Ah, who am I kidding? I'll leap to my feet for an Old Timers introduction of Ty Wigginton. metirish Oct 27 2008 06:48 AM Koosman ] WHERE ARE THEY NOW? JERRY KOOSMAN BY JIM BAUMBACH | jim.baumbach@newsday.com October 26, 2008 Jerry Koosman hasn't followed the Tampa Bay Rays all that much this season, so he only recently became aware that people are comparing their stunning run to the World Series to the '69 Mets. But even though the former Mets lefthander might not be able to name many of the Tampa Bay players, he sure knows all about what these 20-somethings on the Rays are going through right now. And if the Rays are anything like those Miracle Mets, then they're not looking at this World Series against the Phillies as a chance to prove their worth to America. Because the Mets definitely didn't feel that way. "We felt we proved that we could win," Koosman said, "by getting to the World Series." But once there, the pressure of playing on the big stage definitely was intense. "The World Series was just a new endeavor, something none of us had ever experienced before," said Koosman, who allowed four runs and seven hits in 17 2/3 innings in winning Games 2 and 5. "So every day brought something new, like a different person singing the national anthem." Just like the '69 Mets, the Rays split the first two games of the World Series, losing the first and winning the second. Koosman said he approached Game 2 much differently from a normal game. "Personally, I went out there with a fear of losing," he said. "I just didn't want to lose. I didn't want to be taken out of the ballgame. I didn't want to be pinch hit for. I didn't want to be behind, whatever. I was just really fearful of losing and pitched my butt off because of that. "And in the back of my mind, I had a goal of pitching a perfect game." Seriously? "I certainly was thinking that," he said. Koosman wasn't perfect that day, but he was close enough. He took a no-hitter into the seventh and lasted 8 2/3 innings before Ron Taylor got the final out in the Mets' 2-1 win over the Orioles. Now 65 years old and living in a small Wisconsin suburb about an hour from Minneapolis, Koosman made a point of watching the Rays last week. He said the biggest similarity he noticed between their team and his was the young pitching staffs, especially the starters. The Mets' starters in the World Series were Koosman (26), Tom Seaver (24) and Gary Gentry (23). The Rays' starters are James Shields (26), Andy Sonnanstine (25), Matt Garza (24) and Scott Kazmir (24). The two teams' histories also are similar. In their first seven seasons of existence, the Mets had an average record of 56-105. After going 73-89 in 1968, they were 100-62 in 1969 and won the World Series. In its first 10 years of existence, Tampa Bay had an average record of 65-97. Then the Rays followed a 66-96 2007 season by going 97-65. If history repeats itself, the Rays will not lose again. In '69, the Mets won the series in five games, the last four in a row after losing the first in Baltimore. Koosman pitched Game 5, and he said he felt even more pressure to win that game than Game 2. "You could just sense how great it would be to win in New York and not go back to Baltimore," he said. "That was the main talk in the clubhouse and during batting practice. By the time the game started, each of us, I think, put enough pressure on ourselves. The outside pressure didn't matter anymore." Singer/actress Pearl Bailey, who sang the national anthem that day, approached Koosman just before he started his warmups. "She told me she saw the number eight and forecasted we would win," he said. "She didn't know what the number eight meant, but we won, 5-3." AG/DC Oct 27 2008 07:14 AM How has Jerry occupied himself in retirement? Benjamin Grimm Oct 27 2008 07:30 AM My guess: Golf! AG/DC Oct 27 2008 07:36 AM Well, I was thinking more about income-generating occupation. Has he kept the family farm going? Besides, I'm guessing that the golf in Minnesoata isn't top-notch. Benjamin Grimm Oct 27 2008 08:25 AM Well, he's almost 66 years old. I hope, for his sake, that he's happily retired by now. AG/DC Oct 27 2008 08:45 AM Well, I'm in the present perfect tense here, wondering how he's occupied himself in the interim, since his release by the Philllies. G-Fafif Oct 27 2008 08:51 AM It doesn't speak to his present occupation, but I got a big kick out of Kooz two years ago when SNY brought him and Mookie to town as part of a big pep rally prior to the postseason and Matt Yallof asked him to describe what it was like pitching in New York in October and Jerry took the question literally and described how the cool weather was very helpful. What a great Midwestern answer. metirish Oct 27 2008 09:31 AM Jerry had the open heart surgery a few years back IIRC. AG/DC Oct 27 2008 06:21 PM Straight outa Compton. The Duke Of Flatbush: The Story Of Duke Snider by Isaac Barrow (Senior Writer) Duke Snider is one of the best Dodgers ever to play the game. He played for the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers from 1947 to 1962. He played left field and is one of the best power hitters in baseball history... Duke Snider is one of the best Dodgers ever to play the game. He played for the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers from 1947 to 1962. He played left field and is one of the best power hitters in baseball history. Edwin Donald Snider was born on Sept. 19, 1926 in Los Angeles. Snider was a two-sport athlete, playing football and baseball, which he ended up pretty good at (just thought I'd put it out there). He attended Compton High School from 1940 to 1943. As a baseball player, he was spotted by a Branch Rickey scout and was immediately signed to a minor league contract. He played for the Montreal Royals in 1944, but had just two at bats. In 1945, he was drafted and 1946 would be his first season in professional baseball. He played for Fort Worth that year and in 1947 played for St. Paul. He played quite well there and after starting 1948 for Montreal and tearing it up, he was called up to the Dodgers for good. Snider never made a lot of money in the bigs: "My high salary was 46,000 dollars and a Cadillac." In 1949, he made that step up. He hit 23 home runs, drove in 92 and had a .292 batting clip. Snider had an amazing 1950 season, hitting .321 with 30 one home runs and 107 runs knocked in. The next year, Snider folded under pressure as he saw his average dip 40 four points. "I told (Walter) O'Malley I wanted a trade. I couldn't take the pressure anymore." Snider, being the mentally tough guy he was, adapted. He hit .303 with 21 homers the next year and got management back on his side. The mid 50's were his glory days. He hit 40 or more home runs in five consecutive seasons (1953-57) and averaged 42 home runs, 124 RBI, 123 runs and a .320 batting average between 1953-1956. He dipped dramatically from 1958 to 1964. In 1958, he had 15 home runs and just 58 RBI, but still hit.312 on the season. When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, his fold under pressure became evident. In his remaining years with the Dodgers, his career high in homers was just 23. His career low in Brooklyn was 21. In 1963, Duke played for the Mets. He struggled and wasn't the slugger he was expected to be. He had 14 home runs, 45 RBI and a .243 batting average. On Opening Day of 1964, the Giants picked him up. He was obviously washed up. He had four home runs, 17 RBI and an anemic .210 batting average. 31 years later in 1995, two Hall of Famers: Snider and Willie McCovey pleaded guilty to tax fraud. Snider failed to report income from sports memorabilia sales and sports card shows. In 1980, Snider was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He finished his career with 407 home runs, 1,333 RBI and a .295 batting clip. Since Johnny Podres died in January, Snider is the only living Dodger who was on the field for the 1955 World Series. What I think is funny is how much of a joke he thinks baseball is today. He is sick of the millionaires in baseball. He said, "Man, if I made a million dollars, I'd come at six in the morning, sweep the stands, wash the uniforms, clean out the office, manage the team and play the games." What do you say to that, Manny? MFS62 Oct 28 2008 07:52 AM And not one mention about how, after he retired, Snider went on to be one of the biggest (in terms of crop volume) avacado growers in the country? Later AG/DC Oct 28 2008 07:59 AM It's admittedly a pretty weak piece for a guy tagged as a "senior writer." He gets three quotes from Snider --- wow, old timers are jealous of rich latter day players and think they're prima donnas; shocker! --- and seems to paste the rest togeher from wikipedia or the paper's obits-of-the-future file. He goes chronologically through the career, but his post-career detail includes a one-sentence paragraph about 1995 and then back to 1980. Barely C- work. You get a Hall-of-Famer on the phone, get some juice. Get him to fill in some historical detail that's not on the record. How about calling Manny Ramirez for a rebuttal? HahnSolo Oct 28 2008 09:11 AM Help me with my Duke knowledge. Wasn't he a Center fielder? why does the writer call him a left fielder in the open? AG/DC Oct 28 2008 09:18 AM Good point. The writer seems to be in an unswerving devotion to failing his reader. Snider broke in as a utility outfielder but never played left primarily. He might have landed there, but he quickly took over center when Pete Reiser battered himself into obscurity by running into outfield walls. He played a lot of right at the end of his career, but anybody who knows a bit about the guy would call him a centerfieder. G-Fafif Oct 28 2008 09:31 AM If Snider weren't a centerfielder, Terry Cashman would have written "Willie, Mickey and Whoever Flanked The Duke". Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 07:57 AM Rick White, getting in shape: Springfield News-Sun Ex-Ray, Phillie won't take sides Springfield's Rick White had stops in Tampa Bay and Philadelphia during his 13-year MLB career. By David Jablonski Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD � People ask Rick White all the time, "Do you miss the game?" It's a natural question to pose to a pitcher who appeared in 613 Major League Baseball games for 11 teams over a 13-year period. At this time of year, as he watches two of his former teams play each other in the World Series, the Springfield resident White can expect to hear the question even more often. "I don't miss anything but the game itself," White said on Tuesday, Oct. 28. "I miss being out there competing. I wish I was in one of those bullpens waiting for the phone to ring." White played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 1998, the year the expansion team entered the league, until July 2000 when he was traded to the Mets. In his 2� seasons in Tampa Bay, he compiled a 3.81 ERA in 248 innings. He still ranks eighth in franchise history in games pitched (145). None of the current Rays were with the team when White played for them, but he did play with assistant coaches Dave Martinez (1998-2000) and Tom Foley (with Pittsburgh in 1994). From 2001-07, Tampa Bay ranked last in AL attendance every season. But in its first two seasons, it ranked in the middle of the pack, and White remembers the early years for the franchise as an exciting time. "It was a lot of fun to be a part of that, to be part of something new," he said. "In my first three years, we had teams that were good enough to win. We just couldn't put the pieces together. We weren't able to stop those big losing streaks." White pitched for the Phillies in 2006, compiling a 4.34 ERA in 38 relief appearances. He threw well enough to come away with positive impressions of the notorious Phillies fans. Watching the games over the last week, White said he's not rooting for one team. "I've got a bunch of friends on both teams," he said. "Obviously, the Phillies haven't won it in a long time. It'd be nice for them to win it. I like the National League game better, but I would be fine with whoever won this one." White has not pitched since the end of the 2007 season. For the first time in his life, he was able to take his family on a summer vacation this year. Still, he hasn't given up on baseball. He plans to meet with some general managers after this season about getting into coaching or scouting. He also plans to get his arm in shape � just in case. "I highly doubt it, but my agent says to go ahead and work out and stay in shape," White said. "If somebody is interested, I'll try out. If not, I'll be in shape to throw batting practice." G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 07:59 AM When did Edgy DC come out of retirement? Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 08:07 AM Had to fly my Rube Walker flag. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 08:38 AM Not that there's ever a bad day for it, but any particular reason today is Rube Walker Appreciation Day? Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 08:51 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 29 2008 09:13 AM AG/DC is still working his way through Metly posting levels, while my alter ego Edgy DC, having surpassed 11,000, posts retains the permanent posting designation of his choice --- Rube Walker. When I saw Zvon had created a new avatar for that designation, I had to switch back to Edgy. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 08:54 AM Thank you for indulging the question. It's a very nice avatar. Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 08:54 AM It strikes me that, among multiple posting names here, at the old Crane Pool, and at the MOFo, I probably have over 100,000 posts, and have goofed off more than any internet poster in Metdom. Benjamin Grimm Oct 29 2008 09:08 AM My post total is second to yours, but I never reset myself to zero. My 20,000 or so posts includes the ezBoard totals as well as my name change. I think your biggest competition for all-time post leader might be Scarlett/Cookie Mom/metfairy/Inside Pitcher... Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 09:14 AM Scarlet put in a six-month retirement, but she certainly pre-dated me at the MOFo. I don't know how many handles she worked there. She also had a career at Grand Slam Single. Vic Sage Oct 29 2008 09:33 AM ah, yes, the GSS. I was banned there... a distinction i wear with honor. I don't even remember why. I think i tried to incite an insurrection against their overbearing administrators. SteveJRogers Oct 29 2008 09:44 AM ="Vic Sage":1f3jzt7s]ah, yes, the GSS. I was banned there... a distinction i wear with honor. I don't even remember why. I think i tried to incite an insurrection against their overbearing administrators.[/quote:1f3jzt7s] GSS is spoken of in the same terms quite often over at the MOFO. Kind of feel sorry I missed out on all that fun. metsguyinmichigan Oct 29 2008 09:58 AM As a relative newby, may I must ask what the MOFo is? Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 10:03 AM Mets Online Forum. This forum was established largely in response to a downclick in the level of discourse there. That's right, once we were trying to set a standard. Willets Point Oct 29 2008 10:07 AM MetsOnline itself was a fan-built website in the mid-90's that predated the Mets having a website. MetsOnline was killed by a cease & desist in 2002, although I think there may still be a bulletin board out there where they're calling themselves the MOFO. Benjamin Grimm Oct 29 2008 11:28 AM It sounds like Steve was talking about it in the present tense. SteveJRogers Oct 29 2008 12:34 PM I was referring to the BB that Willets mentioned. Several of the posters on the current MOFO were on GSS (yet another Met forum named after Ventura's infamous game winning hit in Game 5 1999 NLCS of course), and got the boot in the same fashion as Vic mentioned, for pretty much the same reasons. Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 12:43 PM Infamous? Are you a Braves fan? Steve seems to know more about the history of this place than I do, and I don't know hardly anything about him. Benjamin Grimm Oct 29 2008 12:51 PM Yeah, really. I wouldn't put Robin Ventura's game-winning shot in the same category as Pearl Harbor. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 04:15 PM ="Benjamin Grimm"]Yeah, really. I wouldn't put Robin Ventura's game-winning shot in the same category as Pearl Harbor. October 17, 1999: A date which will live in famy. A Boy Named Seo Oct 29 2008 04:21 PM Rogers was either going with the popular, but controversial Lucky Day/El Guapo definition of "infamous", or he's just gettin' all Chipper J. Jeets[/url:1drkl6im] on us. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 04:26 PM Steve's been everywhere, man... seawolf17 Oct 29 2008 05:39 PM ="A Boy Named Seo":1gbomtrk]Rogers was either going with the popular, but controversial Lucky Day/El Guapo definition of "infamous"[/quote:1gbomtrk] Hilarious. "Jefe? Do you know what is a plethora? Well, you told me I have a plethora. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has no idea what it means to have a plethora." One of the best movies ever. Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 05:45 PM Well, maybe one of the best million films ever. I can go for that. Kong76 Oct 29 2008 06:17 PM EDC: Steve seems to know more about the history of this place than I do, and I don't know hardly anything about him <<< StevieJStalker sees all! Frayed Knot Oct 29 2008 07:39 PM ="SteveJRogers":2nu9sgsu]Several of the posters on the current MOFO were on GSS and got the boot in the same fashion as Vic mentioned, for pretty much the same reasons.[/quote:2nu9sgsu] What Vic did to got booted (and me IIRC) had nothing to do with what others did. Edgy DC Oct 30 2008 10:58 AM Dan Reilly, knew when to keep his mouth shut. Check out the piping on ihs original uni. Villager photo by Will McKinley Dan Reilly, the original Mr. Met, at Shea Stadium recently. Reilly with his Mr. Met baseball head back in the mid-1960s when he was the team�s mascot at home games. Mr. Met recalls heady times as first mascot for Amazin�s By WILL McKINLEY Dozens of Mets legends were honored at Shea Stadium�s closing ceremony last month, from Tom Seaver to Mike Piazza and all the lesser lights in between. But one seminal figure in the team�s history was conspicuous by his absence. Dan Reilly, the first man to wear the costume of iconic mascot Mr. Met, watched the bittersweet festivities at home on TV like an ordinary fan. But the longtime Soho resident and author of the new book �The Original Mr. Met Remembers,� is anything but. �I�m disappointed they didn�t invite me back, but I�m not angry,� said Reilly, who played the Mets mascot on and off the field from 1964 through 1967, the first three of his nine years with the club. �Seaver, Koosman, Swoboda, all those guys were my buddies. And I figured they�d like to see me again, too, just to say hello, a few handshakes, keep in touch. They all still call me Mr. Met.� Now 70 and retired, Reilly�s ties with the team go back to Shea�s inaugural season, when he joined the Mets ticket sales staff two months before the debut of their new home. �It was a snowy February morning the day of my interview,� Reilly said last week, as he walked the grounds of the soon-to-be-demolished stadium. �From the outside, it looked like an orange-and-blue skeleton. Nothing was happening and nobody was around. Inside, they were still putting the seats in. And now I�m watching them take those seats out. It�s sad.� Sadness is not an emotion readily associated with Reilly, a jovial, outgoing raconteur who worked in the restaurant business after leaving the Mets in 1972, and recently concluded a four-year stint as the host of game-day ferry rides to Shea. On boat or barstool, the Richmond Hill, Queens, native spins colorful tales of the early days of the Amazin� Mets with a hearty laugh and, on this occasion, a misty eye. �We were a small organization back then, no superstars,� said Reilly, clad in a Mets jersey and still using �we� and �us� when referring to the team he left 36 years ago. �I drank with those guys. I knew where all the good Irish bars in Queens were. And I knew when to keep my mouth shut. That�s why everyone liked me.� Reilly was front and center for nearly all of the significant events of the team�s first decade: Shea�s first opening day; the 1964 All-Star Game; Casey Stengel�s on-field 75th birthday celebration and the infamous after-party at Toots Shor�s, where the legendary manager broke his hip and ended his career; the arrival of 1967 Rookie of the Year Seaver; the managerial tenure of Reilly�s boyhood idol Gil Hodges and, most memorably, the Miracle Mets World Series victory on Oct. 16, 1969. �As soon as that game was over, I ran from the press box down to the clubhouse,� Reilly said 39 years and one day later, as he traced the trajectory from the top of the stadium to the bottom with his finger. �There�s a picture of me in the 1970 yearbook, being doused with champagne by Jerry Grote. Those were my guys. They were the best.� In addition to his daily responsibilities, first in ticket sales and later in the promotions department, Reilly also served as the V.I.P. handler for visiting celebrities and politicians, ran the Mets Speakers Bureau program and filled in as public address announcer at Shea for three weeks in 1966. He also wished four members of a British rock band good luck as they ran on to the field for an August 1965 concert. �I said, �Break a leg, guys,� and one of them said, �Thanks mate!�� Reilly remembered. �I don�t know which one it was because I didn�t know who The Beatles were back then.� But Reilly�s fondest memories began on May 31, 1964, when he donned the papier-m�ch�, baseball-shaped head of the first mascot in Major League Baseball history. The Mets lost both sides of a doubleheader that day to the Giants, whose defection to California with the Brooklyn Dodgers after the 1957 season inspired attorney Bill Shea�s successful crusade to bring National League baseball back to New York. But, between games of that doubleheader, a star was born. �The stadium was packed and I was nervous,� Reilly said with a laugh. �They had told me to play it straight, just walk out there and wave, but the kids started swarming down to meet me in the stands. I shook hands, posed for pictures, signed autographs. After that, I got cocky and started dancing. It was an instant hit. Back then, the fans might not have recognized the players, but they always recognized Mr. Met.� As Reilly remembered the glories of four decades past, he struck up a conversation with a current Mets fan, 48-year-old software engineer Mark Szemberski, who was snapping photos of the now-shuttered stadium. �Of all people to meet, the last time I�m at Shea � Mr. Met!� Szemberski exclaimed, as he posed for a picture with the unlikely celebrity. �You made my day. I hope they invite you back when they open the new stadium.� Reilly handed Szemberski his business card, which features a photo of his younger self in a regulation Mets uniform, holding the outsized head that made him famous. The original Mr. Met is smiling broadly, as always. �Baseball is tradition,� Reilly said, as he bid final farewell to Shea from a departing 7 train. �Mr. Met touched people then, and he still does. I think it�s important to remember how we used to do it, what Shea used to be like. If we do, there will always be a Shea Stadium.� �The Original Mr. Met Remembers: When the Miracle Began� (138 pages) is available at iUniverse.com. HahnSolo Oct 30 2008 11:22 AM The uniform on the right suggests that photo is from '86 (racing stripes and anniversary logo), not from the early sixties. (I see Edgy beat me to that). soupcan Oct 30 2008 11:23 AM Yeah - something's wrong there. Benjamin Grimm Oct 30 2008 11:38 AM I'd guess that in 1986 he was just visiting with his old head. seawolf17 Oct 30 2008 12:07 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":36b19cxk]I'd guess that in 1986 he was just visiting with his old head.[/quote:36b19cxk] Possibly for a 25th anniversary event, which would make sense. Edgy DC Nov 03 2008 02:40 PM The High-A Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino (real name!) have announced their coaching staff, including John Valentin as batting coach and Charlie Hough as pitching coach. I confused Hough with Verne Ruhle and thought he was dead. Edgy DC Nov 10 2008 02:45 PM Candidates being looked at for the Seattle managerial job include Jose Oquendo, the prototype for Rey Ordoñez; Joey Cora, who managed for the Mets in the minors, and Randy Ready, who has one of the porniest names in baseball history. sharpie Nov 11 2008 11:36 AM Soon we can enjoy the literary stylings of Mike Piazza: Mike Piazza, a 12-time All Star for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets, has signed a deal to write his autobiography for Simon & Schuster. V-p and senior editor Bob Bender acquired world rights from David Black, CEO of Black Inc., and Dan Lozano, Piazza�s sports agent. Publication is slated for 2010. In the book, Piazza, who retired just before the 2008 season, will discuss controversies of his career, including the 2000 World Series incident when Roger Clemens threw a shattered bat at him, and the press conference he held to deny rumors that he was gay. The autobiography will also cover Piazza�s tumultuous relationships with the Dodgers, their front office and Tommy Lasorda; as well as his former teammates Bobby Valentine, Pedro Martinez, Rickey Henderson and others. Edgy DC Nov 11 2008 11:40 AM He actually retired well into the 2008 season when he hadn't gotten interest from anybody. And Bobby Valentine wasn't his teammate. Who writes press releases these days? John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 11 2008 11:47 AM Who cares. I'm going to read the hell out of that book. Edgy DC Nov 11 2008 11:52 AM If'n I were you, I contact that agent NOW!!!! and show him your writin' credentials. Benjamin Grimm Nov 11 2008 11:55 AM Good thought. Writing the hell out of the book would be even better than reading the hell out of it. HahnSolo Nov 11 2008 12:19 PM Knowing the publishing industry as I do, I can tell you that acquiring editor had absolutely no interest in the writin' credentials in the manuscript and cared primarily about the name on page 1. Benjamin Grimm Nov 11 2008 12:21 PM So Piazza now shops around for a ghost, I suppose? I figure he'll go with a sportswriter he had a good relationship with during his playing days. G-Fafif Nov 11 2008 12:23 PM Or a David Frum/Michael Gershon otherwise underemployed wordsmith of the right. Mike goes that way. HahnSolo Nov 11 2008 12:25 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":r3mb7fqz]So Piazza now shops around for a ghost, I suppose? I figure he'll go with a sportswriter he had a good relationship with during his playing days.[/quote:r3mb7fqz] I doubt Piazza does the shopping unless there's a writer he was really close to and insists on using him. Otherwise, I expect the literary agent would work with the publisher to find someone. Edgy DC Nov 11 2008 12:28 PM Which is fucking why you should be acting NOW!!!! G-Fafif Nov 11 2008 12:30 PM I'm Richie Hebner for another eight posts or so. I'm not going out of my way to pick up any ground balls for a little while. sharpie Nov 11 2008 12:32 PM David Black, the agent, reps many bigtime sportswriters (including Mitch Albom of "Tuesdays With Morrie" fame). Piazza would have already come attached with a writer by the time the deal was made. Benjamin Grimm Nov 11 2008 12:32 PM I don't want to stir up an ugly intramural competition, but GFafif should also throw his hat in the ring. G-Fafif Nov 11 2008 12:40 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":3prysgfg]I don't want to stir up an ugly intramural competition, but GFafif should also throw his hat in the ring.[/quote:3prysgfg] Thanks, but first I have to finish my "as told to myself" thing. After I stop being Richie Hebner. Edgy DC Nov 12 2008 10:23 AM Former Pitchers Leading Today's Brogna News: Hideo Nomo, teaching the forkball to young buffalos. Frank Viola, getting into the analyst game. Tom Seaver, advising the youth of today and liquoring up Tommy Davis. John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 12 2008 10:41 AM Read also where Leiter was joining the staff at MLB-TV. I guess that means he's leaving the NO! network. Edgy DC Nov 13 2008 08:14 AM So, if you're like me, you grew sick of stories of Lenny Dykstra, swinging finance trader, about two paragraphs into the first one, but now the angle isn't that he's just another player, but that he's actually flourishing during these hard times. The claim is that he's 82-0 in stock picks endorsed in his newsletter. Edgy DC Nov 13 2008 01:36 PM Rick Sweet returning as manager of the Louisville Bats. Local favorite Roger Mason joins the Traverse City Beach Bums as pitching coach. John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 13 2008 01:38 PM Ron Gardenhire gets an extension. Leiter btw, will still work for Al-Yankazeera. Reynolds tho is out at SNY, raising speculation that Bobby Ojeda is on his way in. I think I speak for everyone ever by saying it would be nice to mix a 73er or 99-00er in there. TransMonk Nov 13 2008 01:42 PM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket":1jn4n2h7]I think I speak for everyone ever by saying it would be nice to mix a 73er or 99-00er in there.[/quote:1jn4n2h7] Didn't Zeile get a shot once? Benjamin Grimm Nov 13 2008 01:44 PM I was thinking a 69er: Ron Swoboda. Edgy DC Nov 13 2008 05:02 PM Sam Perlozzo joins the Phils. Bang. metsguyinmichigan Nov 13 2008 11:01 PM ="Edgy DC":828l4i24]Rick Sweet returning as manager of the Louisville Bats. Local favorite Roger Mason joins the Traverse City Beach Bums as pitching coach.[/quote:828l4i24] Traverse City is a beautiful resort area about two hours north of me. The team is fairly new, and plays in an independent league. We used to play in an all-newspaper softball tournament in Traverse, and it was fun until the Detroit News took it over and started stacking its team with ringers who didn't work for the paper. Cads! I'll have to head up this summer and see a game and talk to Mason! Edgy DC Nov 14 2008 10:19 AM Holy Foli, Batman, it's Sammy Drake! In a Mets hat! An old friendship, forged 50 years ago, is rekindled AUGUSTA -- It was the New York Mets cap on his head. This being Red Sox country, people had to stop the athletic, older man this week and ask. "What's up with the hat?" That's when C. Wayne Mitchell glanced at his guest and stepped in. "This is Sammy Drake. Don't you know who he is?" No one did, to the amusement of both men. "He's an original member of the Mets," Mitchell would tell them. "He's my friend." It's a friendship forged nearly 50 years ago, interrupted by decades of separation and searching by Mitchell and resumed about four years ago. Mitchell's family, aware of his wish to reconnect, trolled the Internet, finding Drake at a Mets reunion in New Jersey. Sunday, Drake came to Mitchell's home in Sidney for a four-day visit. They laughed and joked and marveled again at the strength of a relationship neither fully understood when it began on a hot U.S. Army base in the deep south at a time when full integration was still a dream. Drake was a draftee from Little Rock, Ark. trying to keep alive his dream of playing major league baseball while he was serving his country. Mitchell was the 7-year-old son of a career soldier returned from duty in Germany and new to the Georgia base. That summer, the young boy discovered the Fort Gordon Rams and a young, talented infielder who asked Mitchell if he wanted to be the bat boy. "I could see he was interested in baseball," said Drake during lunch at a local restaurant Wednesday. Drake remembered when he fell in love with the game. The two played catch. Sometimes, Mitchell would go the base recreation center where Drake worked. They were so different in age and in race. Then, Mitchell was too young to understand what it meant to be a young black adult in Georgia. Drake, of course, did. A year or two after meeting, Mitchell's father was transferred to Taiwan. Mitchell got a baseball glove, a bat, a handshake, and much later, when he could fully understand, an outlook on life. "Of all the hello's and good-bye's, his was the one I remember most," said Mitchell, while Drake nodded. "I knew a thank-you would be in order." Mitchell's story to this point became a column I wrote four years ago. Then, I couldn't reach Drake who had returned to his home in Los Angeles. Wednesday, at lunch, I introduced myself. Meeting Mitchell wasn't a coincidence, Drake said. There was a reason that maybe still isn't clear 50 years later. Drake was surprised, but not stunned when Mitchell walked up to his table at the hotel where the Mets reunion and autograph session took place. He's met a lot of people in his 74 years and has usually found the goodness in them, even under trying circumstances. "At first I thought he as a typical fan," Drake said. "When he started talking about Fort Gordon I knew right away." Drake can't say he thought about Mitchell much over the years. Neither did he forget the young bat boy who would go to the gym to fold towels and stay out of the way of the soldiers.� "He would get picked on by the ballplayers a little bit. It was all in fun, but I could see it bothered him. I'd say, come with me. Let's play catch." Drake signed with the Chicago Cubs for $1,500 and was later assigned to Macon, Ga. to play for Pepper Martin in the so-called Sally League. He was the first African-American to play in the league he says. The most hurtful part of that season? "Not being able to sleep in the same hotels with my teammates. Not being able to eat with them. I could get carry-out or go across the river to a (black-owned restaurant.)" In the next breath, Drake tells of Martin's effort to get him seated with the team at a restaurant in Indiana. Martin, nicknamed the Wild Horse of the Osage, was a third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals' "Gashouse Gang" in the 1930s and colorblind. Drake remembers one of his first trips to spring training with the Cubs after his two years in the Army. He was one of three black ballplayers in a group of 50 minor leaguers were assigned to a barracks-style building. "Every night I would pray. They must have thought I was from another planet. "But I had a good spring training. When camp broke, everyone was on their knees praying but two." Monday, Mitchell and Drake had breakfast with Roger Katz, the mayor of Augusta and a baseball fan. Katz invited Drake to speak to the city council that night. He told the story of a Cubs tryout he attended in Winnipeg, Manitoba and the sore arm he had. He couldn't throw across the infield. Discouraged, he called the grandmother who raised him. Don't worry, he was told. She would pray for him. "We had a big snowstorm," said Drake smiling. "We couldn't use the field for two weeks. I soaked my arm in the bath tub every day. I was ready." The Mets drafted him off the Cubs roster. His two-year, major league career was the proverbial cup of coffee. In 53 games he hit .153. His older brother, Solly, played parts of three seasons with the Cubs, Phillies and Dodgers. Together, they were the first African-American brothers to play major league baseball. Early Thursday morning, Drake said good-bye to Mitchell and his wife, Bonnie, and began his trip back to Los Angeles. A graduate of Philander Smith College in Little Rock, he's a retired investigator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He teaches Sunday School at the Greater Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, where his brother, the Rev. Dr. Solomon Drake, is pastor to a 6,000-member congregation. They've listened to the story of how a young white boy and a young black adult became lasting friends. It shouldn't be forgotten. Edgy DC Nov 19 2008 10:38 AM Jack Aker, out of work and vulnerable like the rest of us. This old ballplayer understands life better than most by Rabbi Ben Kamin, Spiritual Life Examiner Jack Aker, a name known to aficionados of the national pastime, is something of a legend. But if his baseball card could talk, you�d hear a lot more than breezy play-by-play. Here�s a guy who made more appearances (495) as a relief pitcher than anybody in his time, but found himself taken out of the game quite before he expected. Like anybody suddenly not doing the thing we�ve been doing forever, Jack found himself looking down the abyss�he was tearful, anxious, and despondent. Baseball players are real people, in spite of the hype we impose on them, and their souls hurt, their spirits droop, just like all hard-working Americans. Jack won the Sporting News �Fireman of the Year� award in 1966 and played for the Kansas City and then Oakland Athletics, the Seattle Pilots, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, and New York Mets. When I met him some years ago, he was pitching coach of the Cleveland Indians; I caught my breath short, extending and receiving hands of friendship with a living and breathing major leaguer who was on a first-name basis with such stars as Phil Niekro and Tom Seaver. I saw him at his tallest. Arriving on the green natural field before game time, Jack came for me, in full regalia�snappy cap and shimmering team jacket. He walked across fresh, chalky baselines with a certain, lanky royalty. There were the first faint smells of popcorn and beer from the bowels from the bowels of the old stadium as the coach escorted me into the clubhouse. Jack took me into a comfortably large room filled with open booths that served as repositories for the players. �Here,� he declared, �we meet and discuss the game plan.� Like a knothole sentry, he walked past the colognes and hair dryers of the bath area towards a large bin containing thick, polished baseball bats. He said, somberly: �Nobody can touch a man�s bat. You see, Ben, they are numbered according to his uniform number. The bat is a very personal matter to a guy. Nobody can touch it.� I understood what a sacrilege was and I shook my head in awe of power and success. A little over a year later, following a season of fallen expectations and profits, Jack (and the team manager) were both summarily dismissed from their positions. Now, this same Jack, record-holder, my invincible hero, sat in the front of my automobile, shoulders slumped, his head in his hands. We were taking a ride in the country as the venerable coach tried to sort things out. His prestige, his income, and his self-image were suddenly as powdery as the faded chalk lines of that emerald ball field he had once ruled. Jack was gone, the manager was gone, as well as a number of the muscular, sleek, swaggering players I had met that shining afternoon�in a different season. A person is so much more than his baseball card, her resume, his cellular list of �contacts.� Jack is doing okay, taking in his children and grandchildren, knowing well what it means to be laid off, discarded, discontinued. Maybe this old ballplayer understands America right now better than most. MFS62 Nov 19 2008 11:00 AM Thank you, Edgy. Anyone who ever lost a job knows that you didn't have to bold that portion. We would have noticed it and commiserated(sp?) with Jack. But the way it was said was an unexpected pleasure in a piece like that, wasn't it? Later Edgy DC Nov 19 2008 11:03 AM I was just imitating the original publishing, which set it as a pullquote. Farmer Ted Nov 19 2008 12:07 PM Tim Foli will return to manage Washington's Class AAA affiliate in 2009. Met Hunter Nov 19 2008 10:37 PM John Stearns will be back managing the Nats AA team in Harrisburg as well. Benjamin Grimm Nov 20 2008 06:14 AM Tim Bogar was among three who interviewed for a spot on the Phillies coaching staff. The problem is, they thought they were interviewing Doug Flynn. Edgy DC Nov 21 2008 10:06 AM John Nunnaly, batting coach with the Columbus Clippers. Edgy DC Nov 23 2008 08:56 PM Jeff Innis, Cape Cod League Hall-of-Famer. Edgy DC Nov 28 2008 11:45 AM Tim Bogar formally accepts the Red Sox offer to coach first. John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 28 2008 12:37 PM The last 5 or 6 messages belong in that other thread. Edgy DC Dec 04 2008 10:34 AM I consider coaching jobs part of retirement. Rico's was a coaching job. I hear you, though. Nonetheless, I'm sticking with it for one more thread, as Joe McEwing takes over the Winston-Salem Former Warthogs. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 04 2008 10:43 AM Just for that it's my duty to report that Jason Hardtke has been named hitting coach of the Missoula Osprey (Dbaggs -Pioneer League). The Baggs also named Brett Butler manager of the Reno Aces (PCL). G-Fafif Dec 04 2008 01:04 PM I once received a letter letting me know Brett Butler would come and speak to my employees and motivate them with his life experiences and faith in Christ for only $20,000. How much is each Ace going to have to ante up for the privilege? Edgy DC Dec 16 2008 09:38 AM West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff. Benjamin Grimm Dec 16 2008 09:56 AM You must have overlooked Jerry Cram in your Google subscription: ="Our Sports Central":3gap6pnt] SAN JOSE, CALIF December 15, 2008- The San Jose Giants announced their 2009 coaching staff today with Andy Skeels joining the club as manager, Jerry Cram as pitching coach and Gary Davenport returning as hitting coach. Yukiya Oba also returns as the team's athletic trainer. ... Jerry Cram is familiar with San Jose after spending three years as the Giants pitching coach from 2001-2003. The former major leaguer is now entering his ninth season in the San Francisco organization after working the last five years (2004-2008) as pitching coach of the Salem- Keizer Volcanoes (Short-Season). During his time in the Giants farm system, Cram's teams have won three league championships: San Jose in 2001 and Salem-Keizer in 2006 and 2007. Cram spent parts of four seasons in the major leagues with the Kansas City Royals (1969, 1976) and New York Mets (1974-1975), compiling a 0-3 record and 2.98 ERA over 23 career appearances. Cram has devoted 28 years to the Kansas City organization, the last 14 as a pitching instructor, in a tenure that ended in 1997. Cram then spent three seasons as a pitching coach in the Colorado Rockies minor league system before joining the San Francisco organization prior to the 2001 campaign. ... The San Jose Giants open their 2009 season on Thursday, April 9th at Municipal Stadium vs. the Stockton Ports. The Opening Night Extravaganza will include a post-game fireworks display, 2009 magnet schedule giveaway, the return of Gigante and much more. [/quote:3gap6pnt] metsguyinmichigan Dec 16 2008 12:29 PM ="Edgy DC":3l94882y]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:3l94882y] The Whitecaps have a thing on Sunday afternoons where you can either go on the field to play catch, or go near the dugout where all the players stand in a line and sign autographs. (kids get a free soda and hot dog, too. We got to a lot of Sunday games.) So last year I brought my treasured Mets book, sought out DePastino to sign it and tried to talk to him about his short Mets tenure. Even though there was no one else around and nothing going on, he had absolutely nothing to say. Was disappointed. Maybe I'll have better luck with Benny. G-Fafif Dec 16 2008 12:37 PM ="Edgy DC":1sfgljfz]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:1sfgljfz] What's Distefano's Met pedigree (other than breaking up David Cone's no-hitter?) At least this will give Distefano and DePastino a chance to exchange each other's misdirected mail. Benjamin Grimm Dec 16 2008 12:49 PM He was a replacement player with the Mets in spring training 1995. G-Fafif Dec 16 2008 12:59 PM Now that you say it, it sounds remotely familiar though I have to confess I might have missed it on a multiple choice. Any other ex-big leaguers in that camp? metsguyinmichigan Dec 16 2008 02:07 PM Stan Jefferson, I think. I saw a couple of those spring games. HahnSolo Dec 16 2008 02:25 PM ="G-Fafif":1lmhw7l1] ="Edgy DC":1lmhw7l1]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:1lmhw7l1] What's Distefano's Met pedigree (other than breaking up David Cone's no-hitter?) At least this will give Distefano and DePastino a chance to exchange each other's misdirected mail.[/quote:1lmhw7l1] Italian restaurants in West Michigan are scurrying to bid for the postgame spread. HahnSolo Dec 16 2008 02:26 PM ="metsguyinmichigan":2a90z7f9]Stan Jefferson, I think. I saw a couple of those spring games.[/quote:2a90z7f9] Two guys I went to high school with, Cliff Gonzalez (8th round pick of the Mets in '85) and Chris Walpole, were in that camp. Gonzalez and Jefferson knew each other having both been from Co-op City. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 17 2008 09:11 AM ] DYKSTRA DROPS THE BALL By KEITH J. KELLY December 17, 2008 -- FORMER New York Mets out fielder Lenny Dykstra appears to be striking out with his magazine, Players Club. Dykstra, who helped the 1986 Mets capture the World Series before landing with the Philadelphia Phillies, is leaving behind a string of unpaid bills and a constant parade of shifting editors and office addresses. In the latest upheaval, Chris Frankie, the acting editor, resigned Dec. 4 along with two other staffers. Now Loren Feldman, former editor-in-chief of Philadelphia magazine, is said to be ready to join as the new chief editor. "Loren Feldman is the new editor," said Dykstra. Meanwhile, Frankie says he's owed back pay. But Dykstra sees things differently: "That's not true. Frankie owes me money. Whatever he's talking about is delusional." Counters Frankie, "That's beyond ridiculous. How could an employee owe an employer money?" Beyond three months' back pay, Frankie said he's also owed for business expenses. Frankie, who had originally helped Dykstra write the TheStreet.com's "Nails on the Numbers" column, got the editor job in August after Dykstra's talks with Neil Amdur, a former sports editor at The New York Times, collapsed at the last minute after a fight over Amdur's ability to hire deputies. "I did fly out there for a meeting with Dykstra about the editor's job," Amdur confirmed. "I spent a couple of days with him. He did offer me the job." The last issue of Players Club was published in October, and the November issue will now be combined into a year-end double issue that has yet to appear. His aim with the magazine was to help professional athletes make sensible investments with the money they earn from sports to ensure they don't go broke when their pro careers end. But present and former staffers say that Dykstra, who during his days with Major League Baseball had the nickname "Nails," is tough as nails when it comes to paying his staff or vendors. Frequently, sources said, he got staff to use their own credit cards to pay for ex penses related to the maga zine, and took months to re imburse the employees. Although the magazine is less than a year old, it has al ready had four different printers and three different editors. Several vendors have also stopped doing business with the magazine. The latest vendor to suspend business is Getty Images, which sources say is owed around $40,000. Dykstra claims that's not true. "I have a great relationship with them," he said of Getty. One source who's worked closely with Dykstra said he "has a haphazard way of paying - he just wires you money." "It's always that the money is just about to come in and everyone will be paid," this person said, adding that if someone demands payment, then Dykstra turns on them. "If you demand payment, then you are the enemy. "He always feels abandoned by people, but he doesn't seem to realize that he's the reason people abandon him." Frayed Knot Dec 17 2008 09:24 AM This surprises me not. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 17 2008 09:26 AM Gotta love the irony in this venture being all about athletes spending wisely. Edgy DC Dec 17 2008 09:26 AM Another day, another house of cards. Edgy DC Dec 22 2008 03:04 PM Aaron Ledesma, infield coach for the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees. The Yankees get a AAA infield coach? What a ripoff! Frayed Knot Dec 22 2008 07:36 PM Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore. Edgy DC Dec 26 2008 08:28 AM DJ has no regrets. Of course he doesn't. He got to be a Met. D.J. Dozier had a Bo Jackson-like versatility Posted to: 50 Greatest Sports By Ed Miller The Virginian-Pilot As William, Bill, or even Billy, it just would not have worked as well. William Henry "D.J." Dozier would have been no less the athlete without that alliterative name, smooth as one of his touchdown runs or fielding gems at shortstop. That name - "D.J. Dozier" - was the shiny bow on top of the package of prep stardom. And Dozier was the complete package: a three-sport standout at Kempsville High, wooed by virtually every major football program in the country, coveted by virtually every pro baseball scout. Virginia Tech coach Bill Dooley came to the Norfolk Sports Club in December 1982 and made a public pitch for Dozier, something that would not be allowed under recruiting rules today, when coaches can't woo prospects through the media. Major league teams waved dollar signs in front of him, trying to convince him to skip football and play baseball. Dozier, No. 12 on the list of greatest athletes from South Hampton Roads, chose football - and Penn State. Later, after several years in the NFL, he reversed course and picked up a bat and glove. Good enough to briefly make it to the majors, he was, in an era of two-sport dabblers, a local, lower-wattage version of guys such as Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders. "Obviously, when you look at the statistics, the numbers are certainly not what I hoped they would have been," said Dozier, now 43 and back in Virginia Beach working as a business consultant. "But the fact that I had the opportunity to go that far with what I would call God-given ability is a tremendous blessing." A dynamo at Penn State, Dozier forever will be a made man among Nittany Lion greats after leading the team in rushing four straight years, earning All-America honors twice and scoring the winning touchdown in a national championship victory over Miami. Things never clicked for him in the NFL, though. A first-round pick, Dozier missed time with injuries and didn't like the way the Vikings were using him - which was not too often. After three years, he signed with the Mets and began the climb through the minors in 1990. Meanwhile, contract talks with the Vikings stalled. Dozier finally re-signed with them halfway through the 1990 season. Dozier finished out that season and played six games with Detroit in 1991. With his baseball career seemingly blossoming, he left football behind. He would play just 25 games for the Mets, though, in 1992. In 1994, at 28, he moved on with his life, retiring from baseball. Dozier has coached, traveled the world doing missionary work, worked as a financial planner and investment banker. He moved back to Virginia recently from Allentown, Pa. He brought with him no regrets. Dozier said he remembered a former Kempsville teammate who played at Lock Haven University. Dozier knew he was good enough to play at Penn State and told his coaches. They offered him a chance to come to Happy Valley. In the end, though, the friend chose the security of staying at Lock Haven, later second-guessing his decision not to take his shot. "I never forgot what he told me about the regret part of it," Dozier said. "That's what it was for me with baseball. I look at it as something that was a bit nuts, but I really felt that I could do it. "The biggest thing about it is I didn't want to look back and regret not trying." He'll never have to. Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372 ed.miller@pilotonline.com metsguyinmichigan Dec 26 2008 11:17 AM That's a nice story! Plus, I'd forgotten how nasty those old Tides caps were. G-Fafif Dec 26 2008 01:32 PM ="Frayed Knot":34ueq9bz]Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore.[/quote:34ueq9bz] How do you suppose he'll greet his new players...or monstrously huge batboy? themetfairy Dec 26 2008 02:12 PM ="G-Fafif":1emwxaju] ="Frayed Knot":1emwxaju]Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore.[/quote:1emwxaju] How do you suppose he'll greet his new players...or monstrously huge batboy?[/quote:1emwxaju] No - just with a simple, "Welcome Abordick," of course! Edgy DC Dec 30 2008 07:42 AM Felix Mantilla, spreading the good chromosomes around. Mantilla earning court time at Yale December 30, 2008 NEWS-SUN STAFF REPORT Mundelein High grad Raffi Mantilla has worked his way into the playing rotation for the Yale University men's basketball team. The sophomore guard has played in all eight Bulldog games (2-6 record), and is averaging nearly 10 minutes of action each game. He's scored a total of 18 points in those eight contests. Mantilla is the grandson of former major-league baseball player Felix Mantilla, who played with the Milwaukee Braves, New York Mets and Boston Red Sox in a long pro career. MFS62 Jan 03 2009 02:29 PM In keeping with the three name thread in the non-baseball forum, I'll always remember him as Felix Lamela Mantilla. (I dunno why, but his middle name always stuck in my mind) Later Edgy DC Jan 03 2009 02:31 PM Yup, and time to retire Brogna 2008.

[stevejrogers]

="Benjamin Grimm"] And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy?

Well an actual torch would be. Symbolic, like home plate, different story.

[soupcan]

="SteveJRogers"] ="Benjamin Grimm"] And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? Well an actual torch would be. Symbolic, like home plate, different story.

Since when are you the arbiter of all things cheesy or non?

A torch, while a bit odd I admit, is nowhere near as stupid as bringing out hot dog hawkers dressed as legendary ballplayers.

[Guest AG/DC]

Now and perhaps forever: the only Tracy in Mets History.

LOCAL LEGENDS: Coeburn High School�s Tracy Stallard

Published: September 28, 2008

BY TIM HAYES

BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

It�s both unfair and unfortunate that Tracy Stallard�s baseball career has come to be defined by one moment.

He never lost a game while pitching at Coeburn High School and his exploits are the stuff of legend in Wise County.

He put together a respectable seven-season career in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals.

Yet, despite all those accomplishments, Stallard is still remembered most for one moment. One pitch. One game.

It occurred on the final day of the 1961 regular season at Yankee Stadium. Stallard was 23-years-old and in his second season in the big leagues with Boston. He appeared in 43 games that summer for

the Red Sox, shuffling between the bullpen and the starting rotation.

Boston manager Pinky Higgins decided to start the young right-hander in the final game of the season against a potent New York Yankees lineup.

He was solid through three innings and started the fourth inning by striking out Tony Kubek. Then Roger Maris stepped into the batter�s box.

Maris had tied Babe Ruth�s single-season home run record of 60, and this game represented his final chance to surpass a mark that had stood for 34 years.

In the fourth, he blasted a Stallard pitch down the right-field line. The ball soared into the stands, Maris placed his name in the record book and Stallard forever became the answer to a trivia question.

While Stallard and Maris will be eternally linked because of that pitch, there�s more to the Stallard story. Much more.

The native son

Carroll Dale was a standout athlete in high school during the mid-1950s. The Wise native was so good, in fact, that he went on to play football at Virginia Tech and eventually earned two Super Bowl titles as a wide receiver with the Green Bay Packers.

But there was a pitcher at rival Coeburn that Dale and many others just couldn�t solve.

�I know every time we played Coeburn, he would have 16 or 17 strikeouts and that was it,� Dale said. �I don�t think anybody was very competitive when he was pitching.�

That pitcher was Stallard, and many players went down swinging at his fastball for four unbeaten years. His best season with the Blue Knights came as a senior, when he went 8-0 and tossed two no-hitters.

Those numbers earned him a spot in the Virginia High School League Hall of Fame in 2005.

His performance also attracted major-league scouts. He signed with the Red Sox in 1956, thus beginning his professional career.

Stallard starred in the minor leagues and made his big league debut on Sept. 24, 1960, at Cleveland Stadium. In the ninth inning of Boston�s 11-7 loss to the Cleveland Indians, Stallard entered and worked a scoreless inning.

He registered his first major-league strikeout during that outing, fanning Woodie Held for the second out. Back in Coeburn, it was a big deal.

�It was a very proud town,� Coeburn resident Steve Hubbard Sr. recalled.

Stallard also saw a familiar face when he arrived in Boston. Scott County native Dave Hillman was also a pitcher for Boston, and the duo gave the Red Sox the distinction of having two Southwest Virginia natives on the roster at the same time.

�He was a great teammate,� Hillman said. �We had quite a few conversations in the bullpen and everywhere else in Boston about pitching � He could pitch, and he had good stuff.�

The moment

Stallard appeared in four games for Boston in 1960. The next year he compiled a 2-7 record and a 4.88 ERA and allowed 15 home runs, including the one on Oct. 1 that proved to be historically significant.

But there are some things that many people forget or simply don�t know about his encounter with Maris. Maris� solo blast was the only run Stallard allowed in seven innings that day in Boston�s 1-0 loss.

It was also the only hit Maris had in seven career at-bats against Stallard.

Stallard also played five more seasons in the majors after that fateful day at Yankee Stadium. After pitching in just one game for the Red Sox in 1962, Stallard was traded to the New York Mets, along

with Al Moran and Pumpsie Green, for Felix Mantilla.

Stallard�s stats weren�t too impressive during those two seasons in New York � he went 6-17 with a 4.71 ERA in 1963 and 10-20 with a 3.79 ERA in 1964 � but keep in mind that the Mets lost a combined 220 games those two seasons, so he didn�t have much run support.

For instance, in a August 4, 1964 game against the San Francisco Giants, Stallard allowed just one earned run in 10 1/3 innings. Yet, he settled for no decision, and the Mets eventually lost 4-3 in 14 innings.

Earlier that season in a game at Shea Stadium, Stallard was again on the wrong side of history. He was the losing pitcher on June 21, when Philadelphia�s Jim Bunning tossed a perfect game against the Mets.

Stallard would be on the move again in 1964 as he and Elio Chacon were dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Gordie Richardson and Johnny Lewis.

Stallard had his best season in the summer of 1964, going 11-8 with a 3.38 ERA in 40 games (26 starts) for the Cardinals. He was in the same rotation as Bob Gibson, and his battery mates included Tim McCarver and Bob Uecker.

One year later, Stallard went 1-5 with a 5.68 ERA for the Cardinals. It was his final season in the majors.

His final tally was a 30-57 record with four saves and a 4.17 ERA in 183 major league games. He also fared well against some of the league�s greatest hitters.

Willie Mays hit just .200 and struck out six times in 30 at-bats against the kid from Coeburn, while Harmon Killebrew, Mickey Mantle and Ernie Banks were also among his strikeout victims.

These days

The 71-year-old Stallard keeps a low profile these days. In fact, numerous attempts to reach him for this story were unsuccessful.

He is still competitive, as evidenced by the fact he competes in several area golf tournaments. This summer, he won the super seniors division at a prestigious tournament at Lonesome Pine Country Club in Big Stone Gap.

Maris� record was broken in 1998 and now ranks just seventh all-time on the single-season home run list.

Still, Maris and Stallard will be forever linked in baseball history because of that one moment in 1961.

thayes@bristolnews.com

| (276) 645-2570

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Shame on Stallard for making Tim Hayes write that story without his contribution.

I read where Stallard was quite the dashing young stud around the city.

[Guest AG/DC]

Decent job grinding it out anyhow by young Hayes.

[Guest AG/DC]

Rusty Tillman is:

• a former Mets outfielder


• claiming to be Jose Canseco's first source for steroids


• homeless and living in the woods

Bridget Murphy of the The Florida Times Union joins the Rico Brogna Journalism All Star Team.

From pro-baseball to homeless

Hometown baseball hero Rusty Tillman lived a life many dream about. Now he calls a tent his home.

By

The Times-Union

Story by BRIDGET MURPHY Photos by JON M. FLETCHER

"It's not like they put a sign out there, 'This is where Rusty Tillman's ball landed.' "

The ex-slugger is playing down his glory days from a bench in the away dugout at Fletcher High School.

But Kerry Jerome "Rusty" Tillman is basking in not-so-secret pleasure as an old schoolmate is doing his best to resurrect one day in particular.

JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Rusty Tillman holds his 2-year-old daughter Sarah during an afternoon visit. While circumstances have left Tillman homeless in Mayport, he tries to make it a habit to visit his daughter daily.

It was a Senators home game, must have been 1977, Fletcher Athletic Director Joe Reynolds remembers.

A slender 17-year-old in a white-and-purple uniform stepped up to the plate. Then with a crack of wood on stitched leather, Tillman ripped a moon shot.

Fans at the Neptune Beach school swarmed the fence to watch the rocket rise up, up and over the outfield wall. Reynolds was coaching on the track and sent one of his runners after the baseball. He says no one has smashed one so far since.

Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal.Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal.Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal.

"I remember where I was when President Kennedy was killed," Reynolds says. "... I remember when he hit that baseball."

The story means the world to Tillman, now 48. Now homeless. He is desperate to cling to the things that are good in his life. Even if he has to flash back 30 years to find them.

Those were the days when Chuck Fisette, a lefty who threw 94-mph "smoke" for the Senators, said pitchers cringed when Tillman came up to bat.

"You knew he was going to hit it out of the park. You just didn't know how far or in what direction," said the now-veteran Jacksonville corrections officer.

By the time Tillman graduated, he'd turned down a Cincinnati Reds offer. But nobody knew how far Tillman would go. Or later, after his 1979 selection by the New York Mets and time on two other major league teams, how far he would fall.

Or the kind of secrets he was keeping. Most people still don't know.

Because while Reynolds and Tillman were reminiscing in the dugout that July morning, Reynolds had no idea that Tillman was living in a tent in the woods a few miles away.

He had no idea that Tillman had been a visitor at Fisette's workplace in recent years, or that he was selling his blood plasma to buy his only luxuries: cell phone minutes, Copenhagen snuff and Sonic banana smoothies.

JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Tillman in a 1977-78 Fletcher High School yearbook.

Sometimes Tillman also splurged on bug spray. It saved his skin from the blood-suckers that left itchy reminders he had an address marked only by the tags surveyors left on trees.

'Tillman Country Club'

Somebody's watchdogs tattle on Tillman as he sneaks through a hole in the fence behind Mayport apartments.

But the intruder doesn't hesitate. He rolls his bicycle into knee-high weeds, away from manicured lawns, away from painted parking spots and dead-bolted doors, away from everything else there is for anybody to protect. When the animals sense it, the barking stops.

At 6 feet tall and about 200 pounds, it's mostly the creatures that slither in the grass that worry Tillman in the woods. The muscles that served him in pro ball - a bulk strangely still there - won't help with a snakebite.

He carries a flashlight at night to spot snakes and zips the opening of his gray tent to keep them out. A blue tarp on top of that tent was all the protection Tillman had during Tropical Storm Fay in August. He stayed put even after two trees crashed onto the tents of homeless friends who left.

"Living out here, I have learned a lot," he says. "I never thought I'd be here. I guess once I get back, I'll learn to appreciate what I had."

Tillman calls the maroon mountain bike that a pastor gave him - after a promise he wasn't on drugs - his "Escalade." He says he's been clean at least three months.

Tillman parks the bike in front of the camp he calls "Tillman Country Club."

His belongings include blankets, a radio and a battery-operated unit that delivers shock therapy to his sports-worn knees. He sleeps next to a saw blade and a kitchen knife for protection.

Tillman also has a portable TV. He powers it with a car battery that needs a recharge every four days. He has nothing left from his baseball days. No player cards. No uniform caps. No money.

Tillman is a man whose family wants to help - begs to help. He is a man with smarts, with guts, with pride - yes, plenty of that. It is the piston that drives him to believe that after his journey, as he says, "from the penthouse to the craphouse," he will get his life together without charity.

He knows there is a prize waiting for him when he does. Her name is Sarah Tillman. She turned 2 last month.

Nearly every evening, Tillman pedals from his camp to her mother's home in the posh Selva Marina section of Atlantic Beach. Then the father tucks the toddler into bed and slips back into the woods.

"I'll probably die from worrying someday," Tillman says by his tent on the kind of summer afternoon that demands air conditioning and cool drinks. "I think what keeps me going now is seeing my daughter graduate from high school."

If Tillman makes it to Sarah's elementary school days, he says there will be another reward too: a Major League Baseball pension of about $35,000 a year.

Kate Weatherby, Sarah's mother and Tillman's ex-girlfriend, says there's nothing she can do to help him in the meantime. "He knows what he needs to do to get things in order. It's making the choice to do that," she says.

But how does a hometown hero who rises to a champagne life skid to the streets?

There were fast times and women, divorces and drugs, is how Tillman tells it. Then there were secrets about the drugs, some Tillman said never should have come out.

Even after he bottomed out, Tillman said he never sold out his baseball family to make a buck. Instead, he accepted it as his short-lived fame slipped away with his modest fortune. Instead, he fumed as he watched ex-Oakland Athletics teammate Jose Canseco rake in attention and money with two books about baseball's steroids scandal.

Tillman said four teammates, including Canseco, bought and used the steroids Tillman smuggled from Mexico when he played for the A's. It was 1986, a year after the Mets traded Tillman and he ended up in Oakland.

Bringing the 'juice'

Once his steroids confession starts spilling out, Tillman makes it clear he's not naming names like Canseco did. Tillman sees himself as a backup outfielder who knew how to take one for the team.

"The code is whatever you do, you're on your own. I'm not going to take you down with me. I didn't get the time that these guys got. But I was one of the lucky ones who got to be around these guys. And I kept my mouth shut."

Canseco didn't mention Tillman in his two books and didn't respond to interview requests through his attorney, Gregory Emerson. In his 2008 book Vindicated, Canseco describes getting his first steroids in 1984 from a weight-lifter friend from high school.

"I was his first in major leagues," Tillman says. "... I'm the one who started bringing it from Mexico."

Tillman said he got the steroids when he'd make extra money playing in a Mexican pro league in the off-season. He started using them after a torn rotator cuff sidelined him. He'd already suffered through a wrist injury, getting so many cortisone shots that his black skin turned white around the injection site. Tillman also had multiple knee surgeries.

The steroids were cheap and easy to buy at Mexican pharmacies. And they got results.

When Tillman took charter flights back to America, he said no one would check a pro ball player's bags. When his steroids supply ran low, someone he trusted crossed the border and brought him more. The person he named refused to do a Times-Union interview.

"It wasn't that I was trying to make money on this," Tillman explains of the 30 to 40 boxes he said he sold for $400 or $500 each. "It was for the family."

He took a shot a week, something to give him an edge so he was ready to come off the bench.

"A lot of people think it's cheating, but if you don't go out there and perform, they're going to say you're a bum."

In March 1987, the A's released Tillman after 11 months and 22 games. His best highlight came off a pitch from Hall of Fame lefty Steve Carlton that he hit out of the park in a game against the White Sox on Sept. 23, 1986.

By 1988, Tillman was with the San Francisco Giants, when he hit his second and last home run in the majors. After that, he went back to the minors and was expecting another call-up after a hitting streak. But the call never came.

While Tillman said no one ever caught him, accused him or arrested him for steroids, he suspects the game blackballed him for it.

"Word might have gotten around that the real Juiceman was here," he said.

In the 1990s, Tillman went back to Mexico, helping lead his team in Tabasco to a 1993 championship. In all, he had played 38 games in the majors, 11 seasons in the minors and about six seasons abroad. Tillman says he made maybe a half-million dollars in all and has no regrets about steroids or anything else.

"There's a dark side of all of sports. What I done is what I done."

Back to work

In early August, Tillman got a job in the kitchen of a seafood place in Jacksonville Beach. After more than a year on the streets, there was joy in his voice as he prepared for his first shift.

"We'll see how it goes," he said. "I mean, I'm blessed for what I got."

JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Rusty Tillman at his campsite in the Mayport area with the portable television he powers off a car battery in his tent.

Hugh Palmer, a social worker at the mission where the ex-athlete eats and showers, said Tillman doesn't talk about his past. He said Tillman has an unusual mix of humility and confidence that makes him stand out among his peers.

"To see a homeless person that's kind of larger than life, that just goes back to homelessness can happen to anyone," Palmer said.

Tillman has plenty of job experience outside of baseball. He's had a few jobs in food service, including cooking for the Jaguars at their downtown stadium last season.

In the late 1990s, he worked as a heavy equipment operator in Jacksonville. At the time, he was married to his second wife, Alycia Tillman. The 34-year-old divorcee called her ex-husband, who also has two grown sons from prior relationships, a good provider who worked a second job at Krystal to make extra money.

The two of them went to work renovating his grandmother's home on the block he grew up on in Atlantic Beach, after marrying in 1999. It was a few doors from the home where Tillman's late father, a Jacksonville Beach city mechanic, and late mother, a school custodian, raised him, his three brothers and his sister.

But Alycia Tillman said her husband started indulging a drug addiction when the two moved back to his hometown. Tillman said he had his own reasons for their split.

When a judge granted the uncontested divorce in 2003, a copy of the order he mailed to Tillman came back marked like this: "Tillman moved. Left no address. Unable to forward. Return to sender."

In September, Alycia Tillman said she was shocked to hear that her ex was living in the woods.

"If I'd known he was in that situation, he could have come to me. If it's not Kerry's way," she said, using Tillman's given name, "he just won't do it. If he can't get it, he doesn't feel he needs it."

After a few weeks of restaurant night shifts this summer, Tillman decided he'd rather see Sarah. He was missing those nightly tuck-ins. But a lucky break was coming his way this time.

A former Fletcher schoolmate with a plumbing company agreed to hire him. Tillman had been riding his bicycle past Brian Christy's business for months, promising to learn quickly if he took a chance on him.

A month ago, Tillman got his call-up.

"Rusty knows what having a lot of money in his pocket is about and he also knows what not having any is about," Christy said. "A guy like that, you're not going to beat him down. It's his decision if he's going to get back on top of his game."

After work on Sept. 19, Tillman planned to meet Sarah and her mother at Fletcher High School. The three of them were going to dinner to celebrate the toddler's birthday.

Before that, Fletcher baseball coach Kevin Brown spotted his former classmate on the diamond. He told Tillman he was thrilled to see him at school, that he should come back and teach the boys how to really hit.

Then the coach found a couple of bats. For the first time in years, Tillman stepped onto the field and took a swing.

"Oh man, this brings back memories for real," Tillman said. "Oh yeah, I could see myself hitting some. I'd miss a whole bunch. But I'd hit some."

bridget.murphy@jacksonville.com

, (904) 359-4161.

Video: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1156018486/bctid1836680060

[Guest AG/DC]

John Stearns makes Hall of Fame at Colorado University, who could use some good pub.

Frankly, I'm surprised it's taken this long, considering the proliferation and dubious standards of Halls of Fame, but this does shed some light on one of the most enduring number-related mysteries in Met history. According to this photo, John wore 12 as an All-America defensive back, which could explain half of the 1977 number swap with Lee Mazzilli.

Stearns into CU Hall of Fame

Posted by GEOFF MORROW, Of The Patriot-News October 16, 2008

Harrisburg Senators manager John Stearns in his college football pose at the University of Colorado. He'll be inducted into the CU Hall of Fame on Friday. Considered one of the most prolific two-sport stars in University of Colorado history, Harrisburg Senators manager John Stearns will be inducted into the Buffaloes' Hall of Fame today in Boulder.

Stearns, 57, starred for the Colorado football and baseball teams in the early 1970s. A first-team all-conference selection as a senior safety, Stearns earned the nickname "Bad Dude" as one of the most feared hitters in team history. He still holds the Buffaloes' career record with 16 interceptions and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 1973 NFL draft.

But football wasn't even his best game, and he never played a down in the NFL. Stearns earned All-American status in baseball in '73, leading the NCAA in home runs (15) that year. His career numbers at Colorado include a .366 batting average, 26 home runs, 101 RBIs and 48 stolen bases.

A catcher, he Stearns was the No. 2 overall pick in the 1973 amateur draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He was traded to the New York Mets after the '74 season and became a four-time National League all-star. After retiring, he became a scout and coach and managed the Senators in 2006 and 2008.

In other Senators news, pitching coach Rick Tomlin, who spent the past four years with the Senators, is not returning to the organization, a fact confirmed by Bobby Williams, the Nationals' director of player development.

Senators president Kevin Kulp also announced that Dan Watson, the team's secondary radio broadcaster last year, completed his internship in September and is not returning. Kulp said the team will look to hire another media intern, probably in January.

For more on Stearns' induction, see Friday's edition of

The Patriot-News

.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

nice

[G-Fafif]

Steve Henderson coaching his way into the World Series. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy who couldn't have given at least one already long-suffering fan a better Saturday night 28 years ago.

]Henderson missed winning the NL's Rookie of the Year Award by one vote to Montreal's Andre Dawson in 1977 after hitting .297 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI in 350 at-bats. In 1979 he hit .306 and in 1980, his final season in Flushing, he hit .290. It was that year that he had his most memorable day as a Met, and perhaps his most memorable day in baseball -- until Sunday night. On June 14, Henderson picked up his girlfriend Pam at LaGuardia, proposed to her (she accepted and they are still married) and then took her to the ballpark, where he etched his name into Mets lore for something other than being trade bait. In what has come to be called "The Steve Henderson Game," the left fielder stroked a three-run home run to right that capped a five-run, ninth-inning rally, as the previously awful Mets stunned the Giants, 7-6, to move to within a game of .500 and within six games of the Expos in the NL East. "That was a great, great day," Henderson said with a smile. "I'll always remember that one. But these days are pretty good, too."

[Guest AG/DC]

I (1) don't remember the proposal angle, which is awesome, and (2) am surprised it's got an eponymous reputation outside of here.

[G-Fafif]

It got a cameo in the Shea Goodbye DVD even.

[Guest AG/DC]

I feel like we coined something.

[G-Fafif]

I've been calling it the Steve Henderson Game since probably no later than June 16, 1980.

[Guest AG/DC]

I just checked the calendar. It turns out that it's Shoot Down AG/DC Day. It came up so fast this year.

[G-Fafif]

I've been calling it that since probably no later than eleven o'clock this morning.

[metirish]

="G-Fafif"]Steve Henderson coaching his way into the World Series. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy who couldn't have given at least one already long-suffering fan a better Saturday night 28 years ago. ]Henderson missed winning the NL's Rookie of the Year Award by one vote to Montreal's Andre Dawson in 1977 after hitting .297 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI in 350 at-bats. In 1979 he hit .306 and in 1980, his final season in Flushing, he hit .290. It was that year that he had his most memorable day as a Met, and perhaps his most memorable day in baseball -- until Sunday night. On June 14, Henderson picked up his girlfriend Pam at LaGuardia, proposed to her (she accepted and they are still married) and then took her to the ballpark, where he etched his name into Mets lore for something other than being trade bait. In what has come to be called "The Steve Henderson Game," the left fielder stroked a three-run home run to right that capped a five-run, ninth-inning rally, as the previously awful Mets stunned the Giants, 7-6, to move to within a game of .500 and within six games of the Expos in the NL East. "That was a great, great day," Henderson said with a smile. "I'll always remember that one. But these days are pretty good, too."

Nice article on Henderson , can't say I knew much about him before now so thnaks for that.

[Farmer Ted]

God, how did I miss Henderson with the Rays?

Who else didn't know?

[Guest AG/DC]

The funny thing about the Joe Torre era is, despite how much they struggled to get their heads aobve water, how static a roster they had.