Benjamin Grimm

I don't want to drive to Denver, but I'll chip in for gas money for you guys.

="Edgy DC"]Can we pronounce it Howston Street? If he comes to New York, I intend to do just that.

I don't know Freddy either. I think, as CF said, that if someone decides for whatever reason to become a U.S. citizen and then does so, sure, he can and should be eligible for the country's Olympic team. But if the U.S. Olympic committee is luring athletes to become citizens so that they field a better team, then I don't like that. A big country like the United States has a huge population from which to draw quality athletes. We don't need to be stealing the best athletes from smaller countries. I think a gold medal win means a lot more to a country like Poland than it does to us.

What do we think of the speculation that the Mets could get Street from the Rockies for Heilman? If I'm Omar, I'd do that in a heartbeat. (I don't know if Street would be the answer for the ninth inning, but he'd be an upgrade for the eighth inning.) I just don't see the reason why the Rockies would do this, other than the idea that some teams see Heilman as a more viable starter than the Mets do.

At least he lived there for three years. (And attended a Muslim pre-school, if I have my facts straight.) Him playing for the DR makes a little more sense than Mike Piazza playing for Italy last time around.

I'm a maybe. I'd do it if there would still be money to upgrade the bullpen. If it means we get Manny and the Mets bullpen next year is the same assortment of losers, then no. Probably a moot point, anyway. I don't think Manny will sign a one-year deal. (Maybe if he was 29 and coming off a bad year, but not at his age. Too much risk that he won't be able to command as much next time around.)

I remember a quote from Geraldo, years later, that went something like, "If only there was SOMETHING in that damn vault!" I was hoping the Wiki article would include that quote, but it didn't. He had major egg on his face for quite a while after that. It was, as soupcan said, very funny.

Sometimes I forget how old I am. The Al Capone thing was from before you were born, Val. Here's Wiki's article about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Capone%27s_Vault

How far away are the Braves from being a contender? From what I recall of last year, they have some doin' to do before I'm going to start worrying about them. In other Hot Stove news, SNY's Mets Hot Stove Report is going to air four (count 'em, four!) live shows next week from the winter meetings. Apparently they're expecting a lot of fast-breaking news, but it's possible that this might be Geraldo Rivera and Al Capone's vault all over again.

They should string circus-style safety nets below each of the escalators. That concourse does look nice. It's easy to see how you could be standing on the hot dog line while keeping an eye on the game. That, I think, is the best thing that the new stadium will have over Shea. I also like the visible steel infrastructure, although that's hardly an innovation.

The hotties are now marrying basketball players.

I do like the improved legroom. You can even have a guy in a hardhat kneel down in front of your seat, if that's your idea of a good time.

So now they're chewing away at the Loge level? Are they going to get to a point where there's just an unattached Upper Level (or Upper Tank as Keith Hernandez would call it) floating high in the air?

That Jenks/Dye for Fernando Martinez deal, if there's any truth to it, must involve additional players from the Mets, right? If it's a straight two-for-one I can't see the Mets not doing it.

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p276/umdb/Misc/askHal.jpg Hal's answer to Dan Heisman: ="Hal the Referee"] If the fielder has not yet landed on the other side of the fence before he catches the ball and he holds the ball after landing, the batter is out. The play you describe is an out. Therefore, the fielder can be on the other side of the fence, catch the ball while in the air and rob the batter of a homer. And robbery it would be.

Especially busy day. We've even had two deaths on this date, which is a rare (and perhaps unique) thing: ="Ultimate Mets Database":1e4gg3vp]Born on this date: Dave Eilers (1936) Wayne Garrett (1947)Mark Bradley (1956)Darryl Hamilton (1964)Kevin Morgan (1969)Paul Byrd (1970)Died on this date: Bob Moorhead (1986)Herb Moford (2005)Transactions: New York Mets traded Amos Otis and Bob Johnson to the Kansas City Royals for Joe Foy on December 3, 1969. New York Mets traded Billy Carthel, Arsenio Diaz, Curtis Brown and Don Koonce to the Montreal Expos for Jim Gosger on December 3, 1971. New York Mets traded Tug McGraw, Don Hahn and Dave Schneck to the Philadelphia Phillies for John Stearns, Del Unser and Mac Scarce on December 3, 1974. New York Mets signed free agent Kelvin Chapman on December 3, 1975. Milwaukee Brewers drafted Brian Giles from the Mets on December 3, 1984. Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Junior Ortiz from the Mets on December 3, 1984. Mets drafted Doug Simons from the Minnesota Twins on December 3, 1990. New York Mets signed free agent Satoru Komiyama on December 3, 2001. New York Mets traded Mike Stanton to the New York Yankees for Felix Heredia on December 3, 2004. [/quote:1e4gg3vp] RealityChuck Dec 03 2008 11:39 AM Three, if you count the Otis for Foy trade.

I like that the tiles and carpeting include a tribute to Shea Stadium.

]Citi Field nearly ready to open its doors Builders of Mets' new ballpark influenced by other stadiums By Anthony DiComo / MLB.com NEW YORK -- The left-field wall rises conspicuously high at Citi Field, making it both a point of note and, recently, a point of contention. "Eighteen feet," Mets COO Jeff Wilpon guessed on Tuesday, before a site worker pegged the actual height at 16 feet. And Wilpon was pleased. Citi Field, he said, may retain its predecessor's reputation as a pitcher-friendly park, but it hardly caters only to those on the mound. Toward the end of September, in fact, Wilpon invited players David Wright, Daniel Murphy and Nick Evans out for a private batting practice session at the new park, and all three of them managed to yank a pitch over the wall. "Evans put it halfway up the left-field deck," Wilpon said. "It's totally reachable." Such details of the new stadium have now become focal points, because Citi Field is so close to completion. A stroll through the park on Tuesday revealed that all the seats have been installed, the press box and Diamond Club are already encased in glass, and workers have begun installing major appliances within the concession stands. Yet of greater interest to Wright, Murphy, Evans and others in uniform, of course, is what lies deeper within the stadium. Lockers have been fully installed in the home clubhouse -- Wright has already chosen his -- and the carpet and bathroom tiles feature images of the fluorescent icons affixed to Shea Stadium's exterior walls. Adjacent rooms lead to some typical clubhouse amenities -- the manager's office, kitchen and weight room, to name a few -- save for one in the back that houses a hot tub, a cold tub and an underwater treadmill. Unlike anything at Shea Stadium, that room, along with one for indoor batting cages and pitching mounds, will allow players to rehab injuries at Citi Field, rather than always fly to the team's Spring Training complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla. In designing this ballpark, the Mets patched together ideas and influences from stadiums around the country. An overhang in right field, for example, protrudes above the warning track in a nod to the old Tiger Stadium. In the upper deck, a two-tiered layout reveals influence from Cincinnati's Great American Ball Park. Pieces of Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia and Coors Field in Denver are present, though Wilpon noted that his greatest influence in the design of Citi Field was seven-year-old PNC Park in Pittsburgh. "I wanted to super-size Pittsburgh," said Wilpon, who went on a nationwide ballpark tour before building his own. "I really liked Pittsburgh the best." Yet the one influence, even more than Pittsburgh's, that Wilpon wanted to capture was that of Ebbets Field in Brooklyn -- the inspiration for Citi Field's exterior and perhaps its most prominent feature, the Jackie Robinson Rotunda. Still incomplete, the rotunda will become Citi Field's main entranceway, allowing fans to spill out of the Willits Point subway station and into a miniature baseball shrine. An escalator leads up to the seating bowl and down below, Robinson's nine values -- a staple of the Jackie Robinson Foundation's message -- are featured. Before Opening Day, workers will also erect a nine-foot No. 42 for fans to see as they enter the park. Steps outside the rotunda lies something similarly striking, if only for its incompleteness. Shea Stadium, home of the Mets for 44 years, has been reduced to an empty dirt bowl, its seats stripped, its sod removed and nearly all of its signage disappeared. Wilpon said he hoped that Shea would be completely disassembled and converted into a parking lot by Opening Day, with small markers at the site of home plate and the pitcher's rubber. Already, Shea Stadium's frame is nearly lost in the shadow of Citi Field, which -- despite holding only 42,500 seats, roughly a 25 percent drop from Shea -- seems built on a much greater scale. There are open areas for picnic tables and standing room, and a "GA Club" behind home plate in which ticket-holders can mingle. There is a Diamond Plaza near the rotunda where Shea Stadium's old home run apple will rest, and a large concrete basin in center field for Citi Field's new apple. There are tiered bullpens in center field -- the Mets will have the lower one, closer to the field -- and a plaza outside the rotunda for greenery. Wilpon was steps away from that plaza, inside the Jackie Robinson Rotunda, when he looked up and admired his handiwork. "Powerful, right?" he said. "It's now becoming what we want it to become."

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p276/umdb/Misc/askHal.jpg Dan Heisman, Horsham, Pa.: What is the rule in major league baseball if an outfielder, chasing after a fair fly ball, jumps over the fence with both feet and, being over the fence with his whole body, but not yet touching the ground, catches the ball and then lands over the fence? Where exactly is the distinction drawn between where the outfielder must be -- with regards to feet and fence -- in order to tell the difference between an out and a home run?

I went with Raiders. The differential in the 80's in Indy's favor was greater than the differential in Dusty's favor this year.

I think Dale Murphy's career faded too soon, which is what hurts his candidacy.

I'll have to think about this one. In the 1980's I would have voted for Raiders without hesitation. But I actually rewatched both of these movies in the last year, and the second time around I enjoyed Tootsie more. So do I vote on how I liked them THEN, or how I like them NOW? Hmmm...

I thought Baines would end up being the first 3,000-hit guy to miss the Hall of Fame (other than Pete Rose, of course) but he fell short by just over 100 hits.

Just a guess here... Jae Seo?

I believe it has. I would have considered offering to Ayala, but I don't mind that they didn't. I think, under the previous rule, the Mets would have had until January 8 to negotiate with the players to whom they didn't offer arbitration. Now it looks like they can still talk to them until they're signed, however long that may take.