Benjamin Grimm

Wacky Wednesday will be held on Thursday this week, thanks to the Memorial Day weekend. All three games of this past weekend's series against the Red Sox at Fenway Park will close Thursday afternoon. Schaefer POTG 5/22/09 - Mets 5, Red Sox 3Schaefer POTG 05/23/09 Mets 3, Boston 2Schaefer POTG 05/24/09 Boston 12, Mets 5

I appreciate your postings to this thread, Edgy. One of these days I'm going to have to sit down and go through them all and get them posted.

I don't want to be a nag, but...

My concern is that, although Jose has proven to be pretty durable, maybe 2004 tells us that when he is hurt, he's slow to recover. I seem to recall that he kept being "almost" ready, but it took forever for him to actually return.

The Avengers could discover him in that floating block of ice. The Captain America movie should be a World War II movie. I very much approve.

Hernandez 5 Sheffield 3 Wright 0.7 Pagan 0.7 Castillo 0.6

Please keep in mind that from here on in it will be RMartinez for Ramon and FMartinez for Fernando.

What about Derek Lowe and his 126 (through 2008) wins?

Yeah, that is an odd location. You'd think they'd be where the fans in the seats could see them, and where the TV cameras could pick them up more easily.

I'm curious to know how many wins it takes to get into the top 500. How about Derek Lowe?

Todd Hundley, 299 career walks. Jeryy Koosman, 1799 strikeouts

VOTING FOR THIS GAME IS NOW CLOSED Totals for May 20, 2009 (11 votes) Los Angeles Dodgers 2, New York Mets 1 NameTotal PointsPoints AwardedPlayer PerformanceLivan Hernandez49.754.527.0 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO.Carlos Beltran12.751.162-3, 2 2B, RBI, BB, SB.David Wright7.700.701-2, 2 BB.Luis Castillo5.050.461-3, R, BB.Daniel Murphy0.500.050-4, 2 SO.

I believe it does. Gate sharing has been around forever and is distinct from revenue sharing, which was introduced more recently as part of a collective bargaining agreement.

Yes. And you're also saving them the labor involved when someone stuffs the tickets into envelopes or staffs the will-call window. Printing at home is convenient for the buyer, so they figure they can get away with charging that "convenience fee." And they're right.

="metsguyinmichigan":1ltagwui]They charge $10 per ticket just for the pleasure of selling you a ticket? That's just incredible. Obscene.[/quote:1ltagwui] Is that true? That doesn't smell right. Gwreck May 26 2009 08:13 AM There's a per-seat charge ($4-$7, price goes up as face value of seat goes up); A per-order charge of $5; and A $2.50 charge per order additional if you want to print them at home. Triple Dee May 26 2009 08:25 AM ="Gwreck":2r1m4j0l] A $2.50 charge per order additional if you want to print them at home.[/quote:2r1m4j0l] I'm intrigued to know what the rationale for this charge is. Aren't you actually saving them money by using your own ink and paper? Benjamin Grimm May 26 2009 08:31 AM Yes. And you're also saving them the labor involved when someone stuffs the tickets into envelopes or staffs the will-call window. Printing at home is convenient for the buyer, so they figure they can get away with charging that "convenience fee." And they're right. Frayed Knot May 26 2009 08:34 AM 'The Hardball Times' did a whole article on this sort of thing[/url:33eeiyl1] a week or so back. The Mets are one of the worst offenders of this practice - though hardly the only one. It all seems so stupid to me. I'd just raise the prices and do away with the hidden fees but I guess this "allows" them to advertise prices as being lower than they actually are: 'See, a family of four can come to the park for less than X'. But saying that some seat is $20 is deceptive if there's no actual way of getting said seat for $20 So 'shipping and handling' charges - or whatever they want to call it - have no basis in reality to what it actually costs to ship or handle (hence the self-print price) it's merely a cost they're adding on simply because they feel they can. Nymr83 May 26 2009 08:36 AM ="Triple Dee":3cwz40tm]="Gwreck":3cwz40tm] A $2.50 charge per order additional if you want to print them at home.[/quote:3cwz40tm] I'm intrigued to know what the rationale for this charge is. Aren't you actually saving them money by using your own ink and paper?[/quote:3cwz40tm] the "rationale" is that you previously could only pick them up day of game so any new options are an excuse to make more $$$$. it might be that these tickets are way easier to counterfeit than normal ones and thus cause them more headaches, i'm not knocking the 2.50 fee by itself its just overkill with the 4-7 +5 fees already there. I've never cared if i had "good" seats or not, its just about getting inside as cheap as i can for me, for a normal non-playoff game my personal threshold is likely about $35 (and i wouldnt go at all at that price if i couldnt bring my own food, kill that policy and my price goes down to $25) Assuming that the cans of Brooklyn Lager costy the Mets $1 each and the ingredients for a kosher italian sausage and a knish cost another $2, they lost about $20 in food sales from me last night (i eat all that even with the food i bring in, i'm a 6'5 pig with a big appetite) I also bought a deck of Mets playing cards last time. I've been considering a shot glass but decided on another beer instead last time i was there. I don't begrudge the Mets the opportunity to make what they can, I'm just observing that i think their calculations to maximize profits are a bit off. they probably had 2-3,000 empty seats yesterday in what could have been a sell out crowd, and thats alot of hot dog sales. Edgy DC May 26 2009 08:37 AM Doubly deceptive when adding the fee per ticket, rather than per transaction. Nymr83 May 26 2009 08:39 AM ]But saying that some seat is $20 is deceptive if there's no actual way of getting said seat for $20 i havent felt "deceived" (yet), the $11 and $15 tickets allegedly sold out yesterday before 5:00 but they had them earlier in the day (so said the ticket guy at whom i balked when he said $69 after i asked for "the cheapest seats you got left, sir") Nymr83 May 26 2009 08:40 AM ="Edgy DC":2bcjiidg]Doubly deceptive when adding the fee per ticket, rather than per transaction.[/quote:2bcjiidg] why do one? the mets do BOTH. not "deceptive" but "annoying" and "costing the mets my money" Gwreck May 26 2009 08:43 AM Like it or not, the Mets are hardly alone in this sort of ridiculous fee-adding. Ticketmaster and Tickets.com do the exact same thing. Frayed Knot May 26 2009 08:44 AM I think it is deceptive. Maybe not to the extent of illegal-deceptive - although if it isn't it's certainly close. It's one thing if certain ways of obtaining a $20 ticket involve extra fees, but if EVERY way of getting it involves a fee then it's not really a $20 ticket is it? Fman99 May 26 2009 08:47 AM ="Frayed Knot":1h410dhv]'The Hardball Times' did a whole article on this sort of thing[/url:1h410dhv] a week or so back.[/quote:1h410dhv] Wow, great article. Rarely in my life have I gotten screwed with less enjoyment than this. Gwreck May 26 2009 08:49 AM There is no service fee charged on tickets purchased in person at Citi Field. Hence the problem -- nymr83 went out there to save on these fees and buy his ticket in person, only to find that the affordable tickets had sold out. Nymr83 May 26 2009 08:56 AM ]It's one thing if certain ways of obtaining a $20 ticket involve extra fees, but if EVERY way of getting it involves a fee then it's not really a $20 ticket is it ="Gwreck"]There is no service fee charged on tickets purchased in person at Citi Field. Hence the problem -- nymr83 went out there to save on these fees and buy his ticket in person, only to find that the affordable tickets had sold out. yeah, that was pretty much the issue. eliminating the online fees would solve my problem as i could decide before i trek out there if its worth going or not. one more thing that annoyed me- at Shea there were signs above the ticket windows indicating which categories of tickets were still available that day and how much they cost. these signs were absent at Citi Field and would have saved me from 20+ minutes on line. batmagadanleadoff May 26 2009 09:50 AM I wonder if perhaps, those add on and processing fees are treated as separate from ticket sales revenue, and therefore, do not have to be shared with the opposition. Edgy DC May 26 2009 09:58 AM Revenue sharing is based on exceeding the preset salary threshhold, isn't it? batmagadanleadoff May 26 2009 10:00 AM I'm not sure. That's why I perhapsed my post. But I was posting on the assumption that a certain percentage of the gate automatically went to the visiting team, no matter what. Nymr83 May 26 2009 10:01 AM ="Edgy DC":niwqtenf]Revenue sharing is based on exceeding the preset salary threshhold, isn't it?[/quote:niwqtenf] I think he's talking about the percentage of ticket sales that goes to the visiting club, which predated the luxury tax and as far as i know continues today. Benjamin Grimm May 26 2009 10:02 AM I believe it does. Gate sharing has been around forever and is distinct from revenue sharing, which was introduced more recently as part of a collective bargaining agreement. Edgy DC May 26 2009 10:04 AM That's a good question, then. But owners kcertainly now enough not to let themselves get swindled by each other, no? Frayed Knot May 26 2009 10:32 AM ="Edgy DC"]Revenue sharing is based on exceeding the preset salary threshhold, isn't it? Two separate things. Luxury tax is based on exceeding salary thresholds. Revenue sharing is based on various income lines and, yes, this all could be about that in the same way that's what luxury suites are all about. They're treated as rent rather than ticket sales and therefore aren't subject to the same cut of the gate as one Joe Sixpack buys. ]But owners kcertainly now enough not to let themselves get swindled by each other, no? Not necessarily. In the NFL - where ticket and broadcast money is all split nearly evenly - they were the first to rush into the luxury suite business (and demanding stadiums that accommodated them) and did so for the sole purpose of getting revenue they didn't have to share. Ditto PSLs. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr May 26 2009 10:52 AM ="Gwreck"]There is no service fee charged on tickets purchased in person at Citi Field. Hence the problem -- nymr83 went out there to save on these fees and buy his ticket in person, only to find that the affordable tickets had sold out. Funny thing-- as I've said a few times on here, the fiancee, a friend of mine and I cobbled together our "package" this year from Ebay-- with a little from Stubhub-- before single-gamers went on sale. With twenty minutes to kill until a lunch meeting, I just did the math. As it turns out, paying face-value or slightly above on Ebay-- where a good number of sellers offer free or discounted shipping-- has actually been about 41 dollars cheaper* than buying directly from the Mets would have been. (And that includes the Mother's Day game against the Pirates, for which I paid about 10 dollars over face per ticket.) *$451.00 versus $492.50 over 9 pairs of seats-- or just over 2 dollars cheaper per ticket. G-Fafif May 26 2009 12:30 PM Yesterday was the first of six consecutive dates that had a Flushing Flash discount component available (first come/first served, buy in advance), indicating they had more inventory than planned for the Nats and Fish. If you subscribe to the Mets' e-newsletter, you could get the $69 seats for $47; same for tonight and tomorrow, all "value" dates. The $69 seats of Monday-Wednesday which become $92 on Friday for "bronze" seating are discounted to $64. Come Sunday, a "silver" date, they are reduced from $115 to $80. Some other seating areas have this "deal" as well. For a single baseball game. I'm not sure how the screw-you-over fees play into it. I do know they announced their highest attendance since Opening Night last night, though the place didn't seem particularly jammed. Details here[/url:3aujeem1]. Frayed Knot May 26 2009 12:31 PM ]*$451.00 versus $492.50 over 9 pairs of seats-- or just over 2 dollars cheaper per ticket. Is it possible to know what the face value is for all those seats. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr May 26 2009 01:31 PM ="Frayed Knot"]]*$451.00 versus $492.50 over 9 pairs of seats-- or just over 2 dollars cheaper per ticket. Is it possible to know what the face value is for all those seats. All Promenade Infield-- a mix of value (2 @ $15), bronze (2 @ $20) and silver (5 @ $30). Also, forgot to carry ones-- ah, the perils of quickie math-- so add 100 to both sides (551, 592). Frayed Knot May 26 2009 02:00 PM ="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr"]="Frayed Knot"]]*$451.00 versus $492.50 over 9 pairs of seats-- or just over 2 dollars cheaper per ticket. Is it possible to know what the face value is for all those seats. All Promenade Infield-- a mix of value (2 @ $15), bronze (2 @ $20) and silver (5 @ $30). Also, forgot to carry ones-- ah, the perils of quickie math-- so add 100 to both sides (551, 592). So - if I have this straight - that's 2 pairs of seats at $15/per seat = $60 total plus 2 pairs @ $20/per = 80 plus 5 pairs @ $30/per = 300 = total face $440 which would have cost $592 (an approx 34% increase!?!) to buy from the Mets but were instead bought over the secondary market for $551 metirish May 26 2009 02:08 PM Good work guys. That's one hell of a mark up , of course they would call it something else , price gouging seems about right.

="Edgy DC":1l3iswu9]I'm sorry you all saw Lannan at his worst. [/quote:1l3iswu9] We don't mind. Edgy DC May 26 2009 07:22 AM Well, ideally, he gets hit to death instead of walking his way out of the game. That was just such a tedious nobody-wants-to-win-this-one sort of game. It was almost designed for J.J. Putz.

themetfairy wrote: The baby in the sun is not creepy. And it's from Teletubbies. There isn't a single thing from Teletubbies that ISN'T creepy.

I've been a bit neglectful lately. Voting for Wednesday night's final game in Los Angeles should have closed by now, but will remain open until Tuesday afternoon: Schaefer POTG 5/20/09 - Dodgers 2, Mets 1 I'll post another announcement on Wednesday, but all three games in the series at Fenway that just concluded will remain open for voting until Thursday.

From Yahoo.com's preview: ]The Mets� offense may get a boost Monday. Manuel expects shortstop Jose Reyes, sidelined since Wednesday with tendinitis behind his right calf, to play. Carlos Beltran, who was New York�s designated hitter in Boston because of a bruised right knee, could play as well. ]The Nationals might be the perfect opponent to help Maine bounce back. He went 3-0 with a 1.53 ERA in three starts versus Washington last season despite walking nine in 17 2-3 innings. John Lannan (2-3, 3.63) will get the ball for the Nationals, and he�s 2-0 with a 2.55 ERA over his last four outings. He gave up one run and seven hits over seven innings Wednesday in a 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh. The left-hander, who was born on Long Island, is 1-2 with a 5.20 ERA in five career starts against the Mets. Points to writer Brett Huston for saying on Long Island and not in Long Island.

He hasn't been "our jerk" for about six years.

I'd rather see the Mets get their 27th World Championship before the Yankees win another. Since I'm 45 years old already, it would take quite a remarkable run for it to happen in my lifetime.

Gotta root against the Phillies. It's more important for the Mets to make the playoffs than it is for the Yankees to miss them.

box score Castro 1 Beltran 1 Wright 1 Reed 1 Sheffield 1 Murphy 1

The Sox TV crew is saying the game will resume at around 2:35.