Benjamin Grimm

That's kinda surprising. I guess Bobby Valentine had the number tied up for a while, but he's been gone for seven years now.

He still has his rookie status? (I wasn't sure about that.) It would be nice to have a Rookie-of-the-Year candidate, although it seems as if that outfielder in Atlanta may suck all the oxygen out of the competition. (If he performs as expected, that is.)

soupcan wrote: That's what I'M talkin' about!

Invite stalkers to track you down.

Unfortunately, I clicked before I even read the entire name of the topic, so I read "April Fool" before I read "suspended."

While we're giving spelling lessons, here's a trick to remembering how to spell the name of the Mets right fielder: It's starts with FRANCO, like John and Matt and Julio. Then you just have to add the first three letters of the continent that's the source of French people: EURope. FRANCO EUR FRANCOEUR.

A guy who gets paid to hit, and who also likes crack.

Voting for the 2010 Schaefer Mets Player of the Year Award will begin on Monday, the Crane Pool Forum has announced. This will be the sixth season that Crane Pool Forum members will be participating in Schaefer voting. The Schaefer Mets Player of the Year Award was established in the 1970's, and Schaefer points were awarded by Mets broadcasters Lindsey Nelson, Ralph Kiner, and Bob Murphy. The award was re-established by the Crane Pool Forum in 2005. Third baseman David Wright has won the revived prize in for of the last five years, with pitcher Johan Santana winning in 2008. A voting thread is opened in the forum at the conclusion of each regular season Mets game, according to CPF spokesmodel Benjamin Grimm. Voting generally stays open for two business days, after which the votes are tallied and the results are posted in the voting thread. In addition, says Grimm, each month a Schaefer Mets Player, Pitcher, and Relief Pitcher of the Month will be named. Voters are asked to adhere to a specific format, which is outlined at http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/6200/f9_t6278.shtml

1. First hit LUIS CASTILLO 2. First double JASON BAY 3. First triple JOS� REYES 4. First home run JEFF FRANCOEUR 5. First stolen base DAVID WRIGHT 6. First baserunner caught stealing/picked off ALEX CORA 7. First guy to hit into a double-play ROD BARAJAS 8. First batter to strike out DAVID WRIGHT 9. First fielder to commit an error MIKE JACOBS 10. First guy to score a run DAVID WRIGHT 11. First guy to drive in a run JASON BAY 12. First Met player to field a batted ball DAVID WRIGHT 13. First Met to draw a walk JASON BAY 14. First Met relief pitcher to make an appearance PEDRO FELICIANO 15. First Met to reach base on an error ANGEL PAGAN 16. First winning Met pitcher JOHAN SANTANA 17. First losing Met pitcher JOHN MAINE 18. First Met to throw a wild pitch MIKE PELFREY 19. First Met to be hit by a pitch JEFF FRANCOEUR 20. First Met pitcher to plunk an opposing batter OLIVER PEREZ Tiebreaker bonus (if necessary): Date of Jerry Manuel's first ejection APRIL 20

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: So, Ollie gets skipped the first few go-rounds, then? I doubt it. The four-man April rotation seems to be a thing of the past.

Adam Rubin (of ESPN) is saying that the Mets will open the season with a rotation of Santana-Maine-Niese-Pelfrey-Perez. It looks like Jerry decided to give Santana the Opening Day start, which only makes sense, and then he switches to alphabetical order.

If he's truly day-to-day (and it's not one of those things that will become month-to-month) then he may still be ready by next week, and it wouldn't have to have an impact on the roster.

There's been so much talk about that SI prediction from last year (and I mean from the Mets and their players) that they should put a banner up at Citi Field: 2009 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED PREDICTED WORLD SERIES CHAMPION

Won't he be too busy running his death panels by then?

I mean the walkoff kind that ends a post-season series.

He's coming back to New York on a pogo stick. All in a vain effort to get more than one line of coverage in the section with the ellipses.

metirish wrote: Trivia might well be his best contribution to the Mets. Maybe. But who knows? Maybe there's a Todd Pratt-style home run in his future.

You know Greg, in the future I can save you a lot of time if you run this stuff by me in advance. I could have generated the April-endings list for you in a matter of minutes. Of course, that's minutes of effort on my part, not in elapsed time from when you make the request to when I get a chance to tickle my database. Also, I suspect that you may enjoy doing the digging yourself, which I fully understand. Anyway, my point is that you can feel free to send special requests my way. I may not always be able to help in a timely manner, but I'm willing to do what I can.

I'd like to see him as a 6. But Wally Backman may get there first.

I'm not at all into cars. Even if I was a billionaire, I wouldn't drive a sports car. But that car in that picture? It looks like a Tic Tac. Is that really supposed to be cool?

If not for that bit about "so-called experts" I'd be okay with him changing his mind or his perspective. But you can't do that while scoffing at those who agreed with you back when you held that earlier opinion. (Of course, I don't know if this applies to Heyman. I can't say for sure that he was one of those experts.)

Is there a Mrs. Fudd? All I know about Elmer J. Fudd's personal life is that he's a millionaire who owns a mansion and a yacht.

I take that comment about Niese as a positive one. Hey, he may very well turn out to be the Mets second-best starter in 2010.

There wasn't a whole lot of passion at Citi Field in 2009. Everyone was probably too numbed to boo.