Benjamin Grimm

Tim Bogar was among three who interviewed for a spot on the Phillies coaching staff. The problem is, they thought they were interviewing Doug Flynn.

Since baseball is the only sport I watch, I'm not in favor of reducing the number of games in a season. (Although I do wish that 2007 and 2008 had 145-game schedules.) I'd go with fewer travel days and/or in-season doubleheaders. Or this: Start the season earlier, scheduling as many early season games as possible in warm-weather or domed locations. Playing colder-weather games in the start of the season isn't as bad as doing it in the important games of the year, the LCS and World Series. I do agree that the LDS might as well be seven games. Series without the wild card team would be 2-3-2 and the series that does have the wild card team could be 3-1-3 or 3-2-2.

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p276/umdb/Misc/askHal.jpg Hal's answer to Harold Cooper, which includes the rarely used word "inasmuch" Hal the Referee: Inasmuch as the pitcher is not on the rubber, he is considered an infielder on this play and not the pitcher. Therefore, it is no pitch. The batter is interfering with a play at the plate. The ball is dead and the runner from third is called out because of the batter's interference. It's not so bizarre. It's happened. Almost everything possible has. Stay tuned... another "Ask Hal" question will be coming next week.

Have you named him?

Yeah, there's no way a team that wins its division by ten games should be able to be eliminated in a single playoff game. I don't understand the reference to World Series "Game 7" however. Weren't those things abolished years ago?

I promise that I won't. His agent called him "Frankie" in a quote I read. I'm down with calling him Frankie.

He may still have something to contribute, but I certainly wouldn't want to position the Mets to where they're counting on him for 2009. Figure anything he provides is a bonus, but don't expect much.

I have an appointment to go pick up my Shea Stadium ramp sign on Saturday morning. (Thereby saving $150 in shipping costs.) Am I the only one here who's purchased a piece of Shea Stadium so far?

We should chip in, buy the cup and the booth, and install it in the plaza of CPF Headquarters.

I did take contracts into account, and voted Fuentes. If it comes to a point where the Mets could get either pitcher for the same number of years and dollars, I'd certainly go with Rodriguez. If they're both willing to sign for three years, and Rodriguez is higher by only a couple of million per year, I'd go with him. Overall, I'm not sure what I want to see happen. As long as they get either of those guys I'll be glad. And if they can get Rodriguez without limiting their ability to fill other needs this offseason, that will be optimal. (By the way, I just discovered the other day that Rodriguez wears number 57. Who would have guessed that the Mets could have two premium players with a conflict over a uniform number as high as 57?)

I've thought the same thing. They'd just have to pop out some passageways so that traffic could flow easily.

I'm sure the players won't be real old-timers. They'll probably all be under 50.

It's back, sort of. I think I like this format better than the one they've been using. Better to see stars of the past than Triple-A fill-ins of the present. It's more in the spirit of the event this way. Even if most of the players involved aren't enshrinees. ="Associated Press"] Hall of Fame schedules replacement game for 2009 COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP)-Baseball�s legends and old-timers will play in a new Hall of Fame Classic, a creation deemed insufficient by the group opposed to the elimination of the annual exhibition between major league teams. The inaugural Hall of Fame Classic will be held on June 21-Father�s Day and the first day of summer. It will replace the Hall of Fame game, discontinued this season after 68 years because of scheduling problems. We�re honored to be a part of this, said Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson, president of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association, which is working with the Hall of Fame to put on the Hall of Fame Classic. There�s a lot we can do to promote the game of baseball. This will be a great success and hit here in Cooperstown. It will be a lot of fun-autographs, family entertainment. That�s what it�s all about, he added. Next June�s game at Doubleday Field will feature four Hall of Famers and more than 20 other retired major leaguers, although the decision on who will play will not be made until later, Hall of Fame spokesman Craig Muder said. We are extremely excited to start a new Cooperstown tradition for multigenerational families everywhere, Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson said. Given that Cooperstown is steeped in nostalgia, a legends-style baseball game is a natural fit. Idelson said the game will be part of a weekend of activities and programs, including a skills clinic featuring former major leaguers, a hitting contest and autograph sessions. Major League Baseball announced in late January that the Hall of Fame game was ending because of scheduling problems. Although U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and other members of Congress objected, baseball commissioner Bud Selig defended the move, explaining that major league teams play 162 games in 183 days and that the addition of interleague play and interdivision matchups made scheduling two teams for a game in Cooperstown exceedingly difficult. The last game was scheduled for June 16 between the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres but it was rained out. Eliminating the game was unpopular with many fans, including Cooperstown native Kristian Connolly, who started a Web-based crusade to save the annual game. No longer should Cooperstown be known as the `Home of Baseball,� but instead it should be known as `The Tomb of Baseball,� she said in a statement. For 68 years, kids have been able to enjoy connecting with their modern heroes of the diamond, but now they�ll be replaced by kids who will watch old men whose playing careers they did not witness, ghosts whom they know nothing about. Connolly had sent letters to Selig, players� union leader Donald Fehr, a select group of major leaguers from all 30 clubs, and the owners and front office leaders. In July, Connolly met with Major League Baseball president Bob DuPuy during the Hall�s annual induction weekend to urge him to bring back the annual game, but was unsuccessful.

Edgy DC wrote: Tweach his own, but I'm surprised anyone can find BB to be totally virtue-less. That's some of the best music of the twentieth century there --- as much Memphis Soul as Chicago Blues (and Aretha brought the Muscle Shoals sound). Simply as a delivery system for that music, I dig it. I also like seeing Landis use other filmmakers as actors. I guess I'm not that into music. I mean, I know I'm not!

I don't even know who "Pedroia" is. I'm such a lapsed fan.

Bringing this forward to the current page. So far, both Johnny and Gwreck say "balk." Harold Cooper, Champaign, Ill.: This is a bizarre situation which may never happen, but I'm interested in knowing what the major league umpire's ruling would be? Let's assume there are men on third and first, one out. The runner on third takes off for home. The pitcher is on the mound, close to the rubber, but not on it. He throws the ball home (no stretch or windup). The batter swings and hits it. Is it a balk, batter interference or is the batted ball in play?

Okay, a few weeks have passed. Let's play another round of "Ask Hal." Here we go... http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p276/umdb/Misc/askHal.jpg Harold Cooper, Champaign, Ill.This is a bizarre situation which may never happen, but I'm interested in knowing what the major league umpire's ruling would be? Let's assume there are men on third and first, one out. The runner on third takes off for home. The pitcher is on the mound, close to the rubber, but not on it. He throws the ball home (no stretch or windup). The batter swings and hits it. Is it a balk, batter interference or is the batted ball in play?

Back to the Future. It's not a great movie, but I didn't like Blues Brothers at all.

="metsmarathon":3by8ybm2]and he does a terrifically poor job of relaying the conversations of this board to other boards. i mean, jeez![/quote:3by8ybm2] Is that at all surprising? It's amazing how tenaciously he's held on to this issue, even going to other boards to try to get validation for his point of view. It's appropriate that his link back to us contained the phrase "getalifealready" Centerfield Nov 18 2008 07:56 AM For the record, I have no problem with him talking badly about us on other boards. In fact, I wish he would post on those other boards more often. Like all the time. Steve, don't go away mad... themetfairy Nov 18 2008 08:47 AM There was also the great leap of logic (if you can call it that) that Steve made. He asked, "How can you not like Mario Rivera?" I answered that I found the electrified pool to be a reason not to like him. He then extrapolated that I was blinded by irrational hatred, and posted about my obsessiveness all over the Internet. Yeah, I was the obsessed one here.... G-Fafif Nov 18 2008 09:10 AM I have to confess I barely remember the Mariano Rivera pool story and don't remember, at all, the conversation here about it. That said, fuck Mariano Rivera and fuck the Yankees. I mean, geez... soupcan Nov 18 2008 09:19 AM I didn't get much of a chance to get here yesterday and read most of this thread on my BlackBerry on the train home. "It's gold Jerry, pure gold!" Seriously, I was cracking up all the way home. Edgy DC Nov 18 2008 10:03 AM I keep Metro North moving. Kong76 Nov 18 2008 07:21 PM SJR: I'm clarifing it for you by holding up a fucking mirror <=== EDC: Don't fucking mirror me. <===

I have no idea who Jim Boeheim is.

This is interesting... ="Associated Press"]Knuckleballing Japanese schoolgirl gets drafted 5-foot, 114-pound Yoshida wants to emulate Red Sox pitcher Wakefield TOKYO - A 16-year-old schoolgirl is making a pitch to become the first woman to play professional baseball in Japan. High school student Eri Yoshida was drafted by the Kobe 9 Cruise, a professional team in a new independent Japanese league that starts its first season in April. �I always dreamed of becoming a professional,� Yoshida said at a news conference Monday. �I have only just been picked by the team and haven�t achieved anything yet.� Yoshida threw a hitless inning against male batters during a tryout this month and was among 33 players picked in the draft.

I mock him for his swimming pool of death, but I don't hate him. There are few, if any, players I can say I hate. (Roger Clemens is probably the one who most fits that term.) But hate is such a strong word. I'll easily say I dislike Clemens. All I know about Rivera is that he has an electric swimming pool. And, according to our resident nutjob, he's a "man of God" who builds and/or paints churches. The pool thing is a demerit. The God thing means nothing to me. If he's helping his community, that's nice. But I don't spend any time thinking about him, other than the amount of time it takes to type in a snarky swimming pool comment. Rogers seems to be obsessed with him. And as for his hatred of the Yankees, he doth protest too much, and it simply doesn't ring true.

This is becoming one of those threads, isn't it?

Rollins is a big-mouth. Does anyone hate Howard or Utley? I haven't sensed that. And your affection for Mariano Rivera is pretty irrational too.

Don't encourage him to report to us what idiots are saying all over the Internet. Because you know he will.