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

[G-Fafif]

="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]

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."

[Guest AG/DC]

How has Jerry occupied himself in retirement?

[Benjamin Grimm]

My guess: Golf!

[Guest AG/DC]

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]

Well, he's almost 66 years old. I hope, for his sake, that he's happily retired by now.

[Guest AG/DC]

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]

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]

Jerry had the open heart surgery a few years back IIRC.

[Guest AG/DC]

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]

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

[Guest AG/DC]

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]

Help me with my Duke knowledge. Wasn't he a Center fielder? why does the writer call him a left fielder in the open?

[Guest AG/DC]

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]

If Snider weren't a centerfielder, Terry Cashman would have written "Willie, Mickey and Whoever Flanked The Duke".

[Guest Edgy DC]

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]

When did Edgy DC come out of retirement?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Had to fly my Rube Walker flag.

[G-Fafif]

Not that there's ever a bad day for it, but any particular reason today is Rube Walker Appreciation Day?

[Guest Edgy DC]

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]

Thank you for indulging the question. It's a very nice avatar.

[Guest Edgy DC]

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]

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...

[Guest Edgy DC]

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]

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]

="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.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

As a relative newby, may I must ask what the MOFo is?

[Guest Edgy DC]

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]

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]

It sounds like Steve was talking about it in the present tense.