Benjamin Grimm

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: The Lunches have Puerto Rico on the calendar for next spring. I'd try to get a place on Condado Beach.

Frayed Knot wrote: Keith said he's going to go check out Old San Juan today. Go over there and maybe you can hang out with him. Of all the Mets, I figured Keith would be the one I'd be most likely to run into in Old San Juan. We were there on Monday, though, and from what you say, Keith was there on Tuesday. Oh well.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: How's the stadium food? Sucked. Not a whole lot of variety. The hot dog/burger concession was run by Fuddruckers, so I thought my burger would at least be of the quality you'd expect from a restaurant chain. (Houlihans, Fridays, etc.) But it was more like the kind you'd get at a bad backyard barbecue. For Tuesday's game we ate before we went to the stadium. There's a big shopping mall across the street from Hiram Bithorn, and we got sandwiches and stuff at the food court. I had a Caribbean turkey platter from a place called La Vaca Frita.

The Second Spitter wrote: I'm happy for daughter but who is the new fan, you or your daughter? My daughter. She now thinks she "knows" Pedro Feliciano.

Fman99 wrote: Good story BG. No "Take Me Out to the Ballgame?" Do the results even count at the end then? On the second day, they did have a band atop the Marlins dugout playing Take Me Out to the Ballgame. But nobody was stretching, except for me and the guy sitting on my right. He's an upstate New Yorker who's in San Juan for a two-year project. I said, "Don't they stretch here?" and his weary answer was, "They do everything different down here."

I've been to Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. Also to Quebec City and the more remote regions in Quebec north of Quebec City. They're all nice enough places, though I think Vancouver gets more credit for beauty than it deserves. I suppose my favorite Canadian player is Jason Bay, because he's a Met at the present time. Had you asked this question 39 years ago, I would have said Ron Taylor. The bear claws in the Canadian section of EPCOT are tasty. And that's about all I have to say about Canada.

So when's the big announcement?

Wright 2 Tejada 1 Thole 1 Reyes 1 Pagan 1 Carter 1 Parnell 1 Rodriguez 1 Dessens 0.5 Barajas 0.5

Dessens 0.5 Rodriguez 1 Wright 2 Tejada 1 JFeliciano 1.5 Davis 1 Cora 1 Thole 1 Bay 1

Niese 3.4 Wright 2.1 Francoeur 2.1 JFeliciano 1.5 Davis 0.9

Santana 0.4 Dessens 0.3 Igarashi 0.3 Francoeur 0.6

For the June 25 game against the Twins, the following voters need to specify which Feliciano they're voting for: LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr, Fman99, Gwreck

Pelfrey 3.5 Wright 2.5 Parnell 0.5 PFeliciano 0.5 Rodriguez 0.5 Reyes 1.5 Bay 1

No... never even saw it on a menu. Had a lot of pork, though.

I'm back from Puerto Rico, and I have some catching up to do. Voting for all six games played against the Twins and the Tigers at Citi Field last week will close on Friday. Schaefer POTG 6/22/10 - Mets 14, Tigers 6 Schaefer POTG 6/23/10 - Mets 5, Tigers 0 Schaefer POTG 6/24/10 - Tigers 6, Mets 5 Schaefer PotG, 6/25, Mets 5, Twins 2 Schaefer POTG 6/26/2010 - MIN 6 NYM 0 Schaefer PotG, 6/27, Mets 6, Twins 0

Anyway, as the previous post more than hints, I'm in Puerto Rico right now, typing this from a hotel in Condado Beach (San Juan) with a balcony overlooking the ocean. When we checked in, our room wasn't ready, so they upgraded us (for free!) to a suite! Sweet! I'll post photos in this thread when I get home. (We're attending the Monday and Tuesday games, but we're returning home on Wednesday afternoon.) The retired numbers in the photo Edgy posted were nowhere to be seen last night, by the way. There's a statue of Hiram Bithorn in front of the stadium, and, as I said above, one of Roberto Clemente in front of the hideous arena adjacent to Bithorn. There was a very excited vibe in front of the stadium last night as we waited for the gates to open. Sort of a playoff atmosphere with a Caribbean flavor. A camera man was taking video of the throngs, and he zeroed in on me, in my Mets cap. I might have been on the local news last night, shouting YAHHHHHHHHHHH! into the camera. (I was trying to get into the spirit of the moment!) In the last few days, as I've been around town (and around the island) in my Mets cap, I've had a few people approach me. One guy said that the Mets are the "team of Puerto Rico" and that might very well be. The crowd at the ballpark was definitely a Mets crowd; there were Mets caps and jerseys all over the place, and very little evidence of Marlins fans. (Except for Billy Marlin, who had his work cut out for him trying to get Mets fans to root for the Marlins. He only made a few quick appearances.) Weirdest moment of the game, for me: After the Mets were out in the seventh, I stood up to stretch. I remembered something I used to do at Shea when I was a callow youth. I'd stand just a little before most of the other fans, and gesture for everyone else to stand. It made it seem like 50,000 people were following me lead. (A fun little thing to do.) Last night I stood, and realizing that I was the first one up, I had a little flashback and did the "up" gesture again.) Nobody stood. Nobody. The guys next to me, who didn't look or sound Puerto Rican and who were wearing Mets gear, looked at me like I was crazy. There was no seventh-inning stretch. It was like I had slipped into an alternate Fringe universe where nobody had ever heard of the seventh inning stretch. Even my wife and kids refused to stand! Bizarre! I felt like I had been punked by Ashton Kutcher or something. The game had very few of the "distractions" that we've become used to between innings. Other than one acrobatic exhibition, and a few- t-shirt launchers, there was nothing. Very laid back, but noisy at the same time. The P.A. system was kind of garbled, so it was hard to understand the announcements. (Was that Vera Clemente throwing out the first pitch? I couldn't hear clearly enough to know for sure.) Beer sales continued right up until the last out. Whatever policy MLB has regarding beer sales doesn't seem to apply in Puerto Rico. Either that, or the rule was simply flouted. I had my first experience, either as a kid or as a parent, with the pre-game autograph ritual. Johan Santana was signing, and my daughter and I tryed to jockey our way close to him so that he could sign her orange Kids Club Mets cap. He bailed, though, before she got her turn. But then Pedro Feliciano came along, and she was in good position and was the third or fourth fan that he signed for. She was thrilled! I think Pedro Feliciano has a new fan. That's it for now. Photos forthcoming...

MFS62 wrote: Edgy, I know you showed his number in the wall. But do you have any photos of HBS that include the statue of Roberto Clemente? I didn't spot it in the pics you posted. Maybe it will change the karma for the series if you post one. Later Stay tuned. I took one last night, and I'll post it when I get home. The statue of Clemente isn't actually at Hiram Bithorn, but next door at the Roberto Clemente Arena. (Not its actual name. I'll post that as well.)

Bay 3.5

I'm going to have to reluctantly discard Ashie62's vote for the 6/24 loss to the Tigers if he doesn't specify which Feliciano he's voting for.

Dessens 1.3 Parnell 0.75 Igarashi 0.75 JFeliciano 2.5 Wright 1.3 Reyes 1 Bay 1

I'm more concerned about losing Pagan than Mejia, I think. It relies too heavily on Beltran, who's a total wild card at this point. If Beltran can't answer the bell, who's the backup? Jesus Feliciano? I fear that Pagan's absence would hurt more than Lee's presence would help.

I find myself not rooting for that to happen. Seems to me it will hurt more than help.

She might have been sitting there, thinking about what happened, gathering her wits, trying to recover, wondering what to do next, etc. If the accusations are true, then she might have been in a state of mild (or not-so-mild) shock, and sitting down, regardless of whether or not a tennis match was occurring, doesn't seem so unreasonable.

1992 was Kevin Bass, wasn't it?

1984: Ray Knight. 2000: Mike Bordick and Bubba Trammell.