Dana Brand

[seawolf17]

Has passed away, according to Mark Healey. No other confirmation anywhere.

http://twitter.com/#!/BaseballDigest9/statuses/73747981609865218

He was coordinating that Mets conference next summer, no?

[metirish]

Damn , posted here a few time IIRC....

[Guest Edgy DC]

Shit, I was afraid to click this thread.

Pr. Brand's most recent (and presumably final) blog post:

Speak Fred: (Excuse the intimacy, but you�ve been part of my life for over thirty years.) Speak. Please. Say something like this, which Ken Davidoff drafted for you: �I�d like to wholeheartedly apologize to Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, David Wright and the rest of this 2011 Mets team that I foolishly disparaged during our April 20 loss to the Houston Astros. We dropped to 5-13 that night, and my frustration reached a boil. I care so much about the team, and that night, in the company of Jeffrey Toobin I recklessly and inarticulately took the club to task. I neglected to remember the old baseball adage that �It�s a marathon, not a sprint,� and the spirited way our players, manager and coaches have performed since that night confirms the truth of that wisdom. I let the team down. They deserved far better from their leader. I will be addressing them Tuesday in Chicago to personally apologize to them and offer my support. And from now on, rest assured, I�ll think twice before I speak.� Say it like you mean it, like it�s your words and sentiments, and like you didn�t have to wait for the world to point out to you that you should say something like this. Don�t tell the world that the Mets are handling this internally. Why would you think that would make us feel confident?

http://danabrand.com/blog/2011/05/24/speak/#comments

[TransMonk]

Yikes.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

whoa.

[Ceetar]

sad day. Has it be confirmed? I get nervous about these things being reported on Twitter. rumors become fact too fast. wouldn't be the first time.

[seawolf17]

There's a note from his wife on his personal FB page, so I'd say that sounds like a confirmation.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Jeez.

[Guest themetfairy]

It's been confirmed - I've been in communication with his daughter.

I'm stunned and saddened. Dana was not only brilliant and a devout Mets fan, but he was a truly, truly lovely man. I had the honor of meeting him several times, the most recent of which was this past Saturday night - he was teasing me about my son choosing Marist over Hofstra (where Dana would have been one of his professors in the Honors College), and we were just joking around in general. FWIW, which obviously isn't much, he looked great.

It really hasn't sunk in yet that he's gone, but Metdom has lost one of its finest individuals. RIP Dana - you will be missed!



(September 2009, at Two Boots)

[G-Fafif]

Some thoughts on my friend, whom I already miss terribly.

[batmagadanleadoff]

I'm sorry to read about this terrible news. My condolences to the Brand family and to anyone here who had the pleasure of meeting or socializing with Mr. Brand. I never met Dana but I read his thoroughly enjoyable Mets book.

[dgwphotography]

Great job, Greg.

I had met Dana a few times, and I was happy to see him on Saturday as well - He was thrilled when I told him that my youngest was reading his book for her last book review of the year. Like TMF, I'm just stunned...

Just about a year ago, he gave a great book reading at our local library and Mrs. DGW was happy to finally meet him.



Rest In Peace, Dana

[Guest Kong76]

I'm so off-the-air Metsie's wise ... my wife saw some of your posts
on facebook and asked who he was. Found his wife's post on fb, so
sad, rest in peace.

[Guest themetfairy]

Hofstra Remembers Dana

[Ceetar]

There's a mention of him in todays game notes too. I don't know if that means Gary or Howie will mention him, but they might.

[Guest themetfairy]

I didn't hear it, but I know that Gary mentioned Dana during yesterday's broadcast.

[dgwphotography]

Gary and Ron just mentioned Dana on the broadcast, saying how they just saw him at the bartending event, and that there will be something held at Citi in the future...

[Guest themetfairy]

dgwphotography wrote: Gary and Ron just mentioned Dana on the broadcast, saying how they just saw him at the bartending event, and that there will be something held at Citi in the future...

The tentative date for that event is July 16th.

[bmfc1]

Dana was mentioned by Howie, too. He said that his passing was noted on the scoreboard and Howie gave his condolences.

[Ceetar]

[Guest Edgy DC]

Wonderful.

[G-Fafif]

From the Times.

[Guest themetfairy]

themetfairy wrote: dgwphotography wrote: Gary and Ron just mentioned Dana on the broadcast, saying how they just saw him at the bartending event, and that there will be something held at Citi in the future... The tentative date for that event is July 16th.

Those who would like to be a part of the GKR memorial can purchase tickets here.

[dgwphotography]

Did no one else notice that it was MetFairy's picture on the CitiField scoreboard?

[Guest themetfairy]

dgwphotography wrote: Did no one else notice that it was MetFairy's picture on the CitiField scoreboard?

OMG - you're right!

[Benjamin Grimm]

How would they have gotten that picture? Was it posted anywhere other than here?

[Guest themetfairy]

I post on Flickr.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Nice to know we have so many posters in the house contributing to the team's legacy, from the outside and occasionally sneaking inside.

It's like we all get to crash the party by association.

[G-Fafif]

If you're a Connecticutian (or whatever the Nutmeg State equivalent of Delawarean/Delawarite is) and you were a fan of Dana's, a public memorial is taking place Saturday June 4 at 1 PM in Newtown, at the Newtown Meeting House. There'll be several scheduled speakers paying tribute to Dana (I'll be talking about him in the Mets fan realm) but it will be Quaker-style from there, with folks who want to say something saying something.

Nice podcast with several bloggers -- Howard Megdal, Matt Silverman, Taryn Cooper, Mike Silva, myself -- who knew Dana remembering him here. And speaking of Howard, he had a great idea that I happily (in context) will be joining him for on June 16. Dana was supposed to give a reading at the Tappan library in Rockland County that night. Howard lives near there and volunteered us to fill in, reading from Dana's work and discussing his life and the whole Mets fan thing besides. More info here. If this is in your neck of the woods, please consider stopping by.

I have to admit a couple of times at yesterday's game I saw fans with scraggly gray beards and thought for a second I saw Dana. What a gyp that it wasn't.

[G-Fafif]

If you're in the neighborhood of Tappan Thursday night, Howard Megdal and I will be reading from Dana's work. Dana had scheduled the appearance well in advance and Howard, who lives in Rockland, thought it would be the right thing to do to honor it and him. I'm happy (in context) to help out.

Details here.