Charlie Samuels arrest imminent

[batmagadanleadoff]

Disgraced Mets equipment manager to be arrested shortly.

Reports are that Samuels, among other things, was stashing stolen equipment that might be worth millions of dollars, including a full team set of Mets 1986 uniforms, in a storage facility.

[Edgy MD]

MALAISE!!

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Frenchy was in the papers today explaining away $50,000 in checks signed over to Samuels.

He said Samuels produced 35K -- in cash -- so French could buy a car for his folks. Another 15K was a tip.

OK, Jeff.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Frenchy was in the papers today explaining away $50,000 in checks signed over to Samuels. He said Samuels produced 35K -- in cash -- so French could buy a car for his folks. Another 15K was a tip. OK, Jeff.

I just finished reading Frenchy's explanation. It makes absolutely no sense to me. Here it is:

"I wrote him a $35,000 check and he gave me cash for it and I bought a car for my mom and dad. And that's what it was all about. That's the whole thing," Francoeur said. "My parents help pay our bills and stuff while we're away during the season. I didn't want them to see what I paid for the car.

BTW, Frenchy's hitting .308 with 8 HR's. He disses Citi Field:

Citi Field is a damn joke." Francoeur delivered the diss in an interview that appeared Friday on the Kansas City Star's baseball blog, noting that last season he crushed a drive to right-center that went 415 feet and hit the wall. "That's pretty frustrating," said Francoeur, who hit .249 at Citi over the last two seasons. Potential bad news for Francoeur: his new home, Kauffman Stadium, can be tough on hitters, too.

[batmagadanleadoff]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Reports are that Samuels, among other things, was stashing stolen equipment that might be worth millions of dollars, including a full team set of Mets 1986 uniforms, in a storage facility.

In the post-Madoff world, you do not get away with stealing millions of dollars from the Wilpons.

[batmagadanleadoff]

.... aaaaaand ..... he's arrested.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/ex_mets_clubhouse_manager_arrested_nCCIPC1bz4k6yUIZuegRPP

[HahnSolo]

I wonder how long all that was going on. And I wonder if the FO was just clueless about it or if they sort of knew about it but turned the other cheek. Neither choice shines a positive light on the FO.

BTW, go jump off a bridge, Frenchy. You know what is frustrating? Watching you go 0 for 4 while seeing a total of seven pitches day after day.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I have a vivid mental image of him running away from a closing-in cop car, throwing Heep jerseys and game-used Millan stirrups behind him as he huffs his way down increasingly-narrow alleyways.

My brain likes making things cartoony.

[HahnSolo]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: I have a vivid mental image of him running away from a closing-in cop car, throwing Heep jerseys and game-used Millan stirrups behind him as he huffs his way down increasingly-narrow alleyways. My brain likes making things cartoony.

Then an Acme anvil drops on him, he sees stars, and a big lump starts growing from the top of his head.

[metirish]

This guy wielded so much power in the clubhouse right? , I am sure it helped to have great buddies in Piazza and Glavine. I bet some more interesting stories will come out of this.

[batmagadanleadoff]

HahnSolo wrote: BTW, go jump off a bridge, Frenchy.

Frenchy was my most hated Met last season. But I'm in total agreement with the narcissistic **********'s negative take on the absurd dimensions of Citi Field, even if Frenchy's assessment was motivated by -- get ready for this shocker-- Frenchy himself losing one or more HR's to the stadium. I also believe that Citi Field is to blame, more than anything else, for Wright and Bay's diminished offensive output.

Wealthy teams (yeah, I know, but still) should build stadiums with dimensions as close to neutral as possible. Otherwise, they squander the economic advantage that enables them to amass Home Run hitters easier than their competitors. The Home Run is the singular most valuable play in baseball, and of all of the possible outcomes that can come from just one at bat, nothing correlates more positively with winning than the Home Run. If your dimensions are too deep, you undermine your HR hitters' ability to hit HR's; too short and you squander your HR edge by making it easier for your opponent to hit HR's.

You wanna tailor a team to these cavernous dimensions? Why? Why makes thing harder instead of easier? And you still gotta hit HR's on the road.

[Guest themetfairy]

You knew from that ridiculous Rhianna song he used as his at-bat music last season that he was being a whiny little bitch and playing out the string.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Charlie Samuels was the Henry Hill of clubhouse managers.

Samuels, who had served as the clubhouse manager for 27 seasons, was suspended without pay after the gambling allegations were revealed. In addition to the post of clubhouse manager, he also held the positions of equipment manager and travelling secretary. On most teams, the three jobs are held by two or three different people. Because he held all three, Samuels had unfettered access to everything at the club and he operated, several of the people said, with almost no oversight. He had control of the team�s road account, tickets, equipment purchases and other matters. As a result, where most teams would purchase 10 jerseys for each player every year, Samuels would buy many times more, one of the people said. It was routine for team members to sign bats and balls and jerseys, which were used by the team for legitimate purposes, such as marketing and auctions and for the use of people in the team�s front office, one of the people said. As a result, it was not out of the ordinary for Samuels to regularly ask players to sign equipment or uniforms.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/12/sports/baseball/arrest-of-mets-clubhouse-manager-to-be-announced.html

[Valadius]

Have the Mets replaced Samuels yet?

[batmagadanleadoff]

Valadius wrote: Have the Mets replaced Samuels yet?

Lenny Dykstra applied for the job.

[Edgy MD]

The new equipment manager is Kevin Kierst, the Port St. Lucie EM, and I think he might have been the spring training head honcho as well.

For what it's worth, he seems to have really scaled back the black.

[Gwreck]

Yes, Samuels was relplaced late last year by Kevin Kierst, the former PSL equipment manager.

[metirish]

To the best of our knowledge there is nothing worth stealing for the new guy.

[seawolf17]

metirish wrote: To the best of our knowledge there is nothing worth stealing for the new guy.

"Yeah, I got this... uh... Scott Hairston jersey? No, it's not game used, because he doesn't play all that much."

[metirish]

seawolf17 wrote: metirish wrote: To the best of our knowledge there is nothing worth stealing for the new guy. "Yeah, I got this... uh... Scott Hairston jersey? No, it's not game used, because he doesn't play all that much."

lolz.......oh wait, hows about the Glavine #300?, gotta be worth a fortune that.......all those years with the Mets, it's iconic.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

seawolf17 wrote: metirish wrote: To the best of our knowledge there is nothing worth stealing for the new guy. "Yeah, I got this... uh... Scott Hairston jersey? No, it's not game used, because he doesn't play all that much."

"This game-used Willie Harris is its own certificate of authenticity-- just check the gentle-but-pronounced wear pattern in the lower-back area from his leaning in to watch strikes two and three with runners on base."

[Frayed Knot]

"On most teams, the three jobs are held by two or three different people. Because he held all three, Samuels had unfettered access to everything at the club and he operated, several of the people said, with almost no oversight. He had control of the team�s road account, tickets, equipment purchases and other matters."

Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[batmagadanleadoff]

BTW, go jump off a bridge, Frenchy. Frenchy was my most hated Met last season. But I'm in total agreement with the narcissistic **********'s negative take on the absurd dimensions of Citi Field, even if Frenchy's assessment was motivated by -- get ready for this shocker-- Frenchy himself losing one or more HR's to the stadium. I also believe that Citi Field is to blame, more than anything else, for Wright and Bay's diminished offensive output. Wealthy teams (yeah, I know, but still) should build stadiums with dimensions as close to neutral as possible. Otherwise, they squander the economic advantage that enables them to amass Home Run hitters easier than their competitors. The Home Run is the singular most valuable play in baseball, and of all of the possible outcomes that can come from just one at bat, nothing correlates more positively with winning than the Home Run. If your dimensions are too deep, you undermine your HR hitters' ability to hit HR's; too short and you squander your HR edge by making it easier for your opponent to hit HR's. You wanna tailor a team to these cavernous dimensions? Why? Why makes thing harder instead of easier? And you still gotta hit HR's on the road.

I've always maintained that the Citi Field Dimensions are not only absurd, but dumb. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. Today, I found some evidence to support my dumb theory:

From Q&A with the New York Times:

Q. I am a loyal Mets fan and have seen nice things this season, especially Ike Davis, until he got hurt, and the soon to depart Carlo Beltran and maybe Jose Reyes. My question has to do with Jason Bay. I watched him the years he was in Boston. Despite the Monster, he put up amazing numbers. Will he ever do that? Will he and others, like David Wright, ever get over the Citi Field dimensions? And why won�t the organization move the plate out 10 feet and maybe straighten out the Modell�s zone? When the new part owner comes in, is there more of a chance that the distances will change? Thanks, and David, it�s good to finally see a picture of you posted on the site. � Posted by Howard, Somerset County, N.J. A. David Waldstein: Howard, you are clearly frustrated by Bay�s production, but not nearly as much as the owners, who put up the $66 million to bring him to the Mets. Bay�s power numbers are lame, and as you point out, it�s all about Citi Field. The Green Monster at Fenway Park is 305 feet away and 37� feet high. The Citi Field left field wall is 335 feet away (364 in left center), and still pretty high at 16 feet. This year is a small sample, but the Mets were 47-34 at home last year for a .580 winning percentage, almost .100 points higher than their overall winning percentage. The Mets are traditionally about pitching and defense and Shea was always a pitcher-friendly field, so I can see why they wanted to make it big. My contention is that if the Mets weren�t so awful on the road last year, and they dominated at home with pitching and speed and line drives to the gaps, people would see Citi Field as a big advantage. But middle-of-the-order hitters get paid based on home runs, and at such a big park there is the physical part of it and the mental part, which are obviously related. It�s hard to generate the power to get a ball out at Citi, so players feel they have to muscle it out. That invariably alters their swings and timing. They mostly deny that it changes their swings, but it seems pretty obvious to outsiders, and at least one former player, Jeff Francoeur, called Citi Field a joke after he left. Making changes to the dimensions is not easy. Most of the walls would require major construction. Another sensitive factor is that Jeff Wilpon designed the stadium, which means changes would not be lightly discussed. As for the Modell�s cut-out, it would seem easy to put a fence in front of that, but it has a sentimental attachment for Wilpon. It is an homage to the overhang at the old Tiger Stadium, where his grandfather used to take him when he was a boy. Still, I believe some changes will eventually be made, even though they would be an admission of a big mistake. But just watch, they will blame it on the previous baseball operations department, led by Omar Minaya, saying that it was the former regime that recommended the large dimensions. As for Bay, the studies the Mets used to justify his signing � that Bay is a pull hitter and the home runs he hit at Fenway Park would have been home runs anywhere � are just that, a justification. The Mets were going to spend on a free agent, but they didn�t want to deal with the other pricier option, Matt Holliday, because he had Scott Boras for an agent and would get almost twice as much (seven years for $120 million). So they got Bay, who earned his money based primarily on that Monster that is only 305 feet away.

I disagree with Waldstein's last point that Bay was primarily a Green Monster opportunistic HR hitter. Bay hit 20+ road HR's in two of his most recent pre-Met seasons and coming here, he was one of baseball's best HR hitters by any intelligent measure.

I also have growing suspicions that Omar is still the loyal soldier, falling on his sword and protecting ownership by taking the bullets for some other dumb things. Like the K-Rod vest, for one.

[Ceetar]

Because Jason Bay has just been scorching the ball but it's getting caught at the track?

[batmagadanleadoff]

Ceetar wrote: Because Jason Bay has just been scorching the ball but it's getting caught at the track?

No. Because the stadium has likely altered his entire approach to hitting, all for the worse. Hitting a baseball is extremely difficult, even at the major league level. Especially at the major league level. The best hitters get in a groove that is based largely on repetition and muscle memory. But CF encourages power hitters to swing differently at home vs. on the road, thus messing with their rhythm. They can't help themselves, believing that without trying to hit the ball farther to make up the longer distance needed to hit a HR, the stadium will convert some of their blasts into outs. It's a recipe for disaster.

[batmagadanleadoff]

"Do you like the scoreboard? I designed it. All by myself. Daddy says I'm the best scoreboard designer in the whole wide world. Ask him yourself if you don't believe me."

[ashie62]

Only seven ads on it!

[ashie62]

Ceetar wrote: Because Jason Bay has just been scorching the ball but it's getting caught at the track?

I'm waiting for Wright to demand a change or he will nor re-sign.

[Edgy MD]

Goodness.

[Edgy MD]

Samuels due in court today with an expected plea bargain arrangement.