Benjamin Grimm

Memory Lane: Mets sign Wagner

Well, Jim Abbott had two arms, he was only missing a hand.

Hey! Remember last September, when I'd keep posting the Mets' playoff odds from Baseball Prospectus? Wasn't it fun seeing the number go from 99.9 per cent down to zero in a matter of weeks? (I was originally posting the stats in order to get comfort from the high odds, but it went terribly, terribly awry.) Anyway, I took a peek just now and here's where we're at: Average wins by position in NL East: 90.0 85.3 81.3 76.7 61.9 90.1 NL East W L Pct3 Avg W Avg L Champions Wild Card Playoffs 1D Change 7D Change Phillies 48 42 .526 87.4 74.6 51.72104 5.64145 57.36250 -4.14507 4.42151 Marlins 46 43 .470 80.3 81.7 8.83299 2.19664 11.02963 2.35417 -5.27805 Mets 45 44 .518 85.2 76.8 31.09188 6.49587 37.58774 5.13710 17.12308 Braves 42 48 .518 80.4 81.6 8.35349 2.48949 10.84298 -1.96723 -16.64145 Nationals 34 56 .385 61.9 100.1 .00060 .00000 .00060 -0.00057 -0.00620 I'm guessing that the Mets have a softer schedule than the Marlins do the rest of the way, because their odds are considerably higher despite them being currently behind Florida in the standings. If this data is correct, the Mets can win the division with as few as 88 wins, and, if they get to 91, would really be in good shape. To get to 88 wins, they'd have to go 43-30 (.589) and to get to 91, they'd have to go 46-27 (.630). I think our best hope is to have the Phillies win 84 games or fewer, which seems unlikely, but it would allow the Mets to win with 85 games. (40-33, .548) For this to happen, the Phils would have to go 36-36 (.500). (My evil plan does kind of rely on the Marlins fading and no longer being a factor. And of course, that might not happen at all.)

I'm not here for the positive optimism or for the negative pessimism. I like the repetitive redundancies.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Look at his face! I had noticed that myself. There's a lot of character and history chiseled into that face.

metsguyinmichigan wrote: In fact, I think he's the only player whose final appearance in a Mets uniform was the All-Star Game. If he had gotten into that game, it would have made for a better trivia question.

Was he? I didn't know that. I suppose most of what I know about Pete Gray came from Strange But True Baseball Stories.

I think I remember that chapter! Something about Delahanty last being seen walking along a railroad track, or something like that?

http://www.explorepahistory.com/images/ExplorePAHistory-a0b8h5-a_349.jpg This photo is obviously posed, but I love how it shows Pete Gray in the early part of his throwing motion. He's discarded his glove (you can see it flying away from him) and the ball is in the air, about to be caught barehanded so that he can throw it. I don't recall ever having seen this particular photograph before.

My daughter, who just turned seven, has the makings of being quite a baseball fan. (My son, 11, is only mildly interested.) I'm getting a kick out of it. I was so proud when she recently observed that left-handed batters have an advantage because they're closer to first base when they complete their swing. Anyway, about a week ago she asked me if there was ever a baseball player who had only one arm. And I told her about Pete Gray of the St. Louis Browns. And then, a couple of days later, she asked me if a midget ever played baseball. And I told her about Eddie Gaedel of the St. Louis Browns. (I wonder if our house is being haunted by the ghost of Bill Veeck or something?) She asked me again this morning about Pete Gray and Eddie Gaedel and I found a great photo of Gray on the Internet. (I'll share it in a few minutes.) But I also remembered a book that I had as a kid that told the story of both players, and a bunch of others. It was called Strange But True Baseball Stories. I found it on Amazon.com and was able to order a used copy (from 1966) for 98 cents, plus shipping. http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/02/55/0a42828fd7a0cbf42cc23110._AA240_.L.jpg I'm sure I had the 1972 paperback and not the 1966 hardcover, but the image on Amazon.com is exactly what I remembered. I think my daugther will get a kick out of reading about Gray and Gaedel, and maybe some of the other stories from that book. And I'll get a kick out of seeing it again. It was written by Furman Bisher, who I later knew as the Atlanta-based columnist for The Sporting News, but I wasn't aware of that when I was reading and re-reading the book. Does anyone else remember this book? Do you have any other childhood baseball books that you remember? I also recall reading The Baseball Life of Willie Mays, Baseball Stars of 1973, and Hammerin' Hank of the Braves.

soupcan wrote: Thank God I take Prilosec OTC every morning. Is that the hair-thickening stuff that Giuseppe Franco is shilling?

="AG/DC"]for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence. The "Field of Excellence?" Is that really the name of the award? Did Bud Selig's eight-year-old grandson come up with that name? Sheesh! Actually, I wasn't even aware of this award? (Or maybe I'm reminded of it each July and promptly forget it.) How long has it been around? Do they actually interrupt the All Star Game to present it? And who was the long dead guy who got it last year? (Signs point to Roberto Clemente -- dead three decades, Pittsburgh connection. I withdraw the question. It's obviously Roberto Clemente.)

Four games will close on Wednesday morning: Schaefer POTG 7/3/08 - Mets 11, Cardinals 1 Schaefer POTG 7/4/08 - Phillies 3, Mets 2 Schaefer POTG 7/5/08 - Mets 9, Phillies 4 Schaefer POTG 7/6/08 - Mets 4, Phillies 2 (12)

VOTING FOR THIS GAME IS NOW CLOSED Totals for July 2, 2008 (11 votes) St. Louis Cardinals 8, New York Mets 7 NameTotal PointsPoints AwardedPlayer PerformanceDamion Easley28.712.613-4, 2B, 3 RBI.David Wright19.631.783-4, 2 R, 3B, BB.Jos� Reyes15.811.443-5, R, 3B.Carlos Delgado6.720.611-4, R, RBI, BB, SO.Carlos Beltran6.500.591-5, R, 2B, RBI, 2 SO.Joe Smith5.950.541.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO.Fernando Tatis5.260.481-1, RBI.Aaron Heilman4.170.381.0 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO.Ryan Church3.750.342-5, R, SO.Pedro Martinez0.500.055.0 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO.Endy Chavez0.250.020-4, R.

I think he's worth looking at. So is Freddy Garcia. And maybe one or two others who I'm not aware of. If anyone's out there, they're worth looking at.

Martinez 2.5 Wright 3 Chavez 2 Easley 0.9 Tatis 0.9 Reyes 0.7

Zambrano really doesn't deserve the malice he's received. It's not like he said, "Hey Mets! Trade Scott Kazmir for me! I'll be GREAT!"

I hope the game is tied going into the ninth inning, thereby making it unclear which is going to be the "last" inning. The National League then scores in the top of the ninth, on a run-scoring play that also involves the third out being made on the bases. The AL goes scoreless in the bottom of the ninth, ending the game before Rivera ever gets a chance to appear. THAT would be a perfect All-Star game, especially if you include a few key errors by Jeter.

This games' going pretty well so far, I'd say. Better than the 6-2 win I was looking for on page 1 of this thread.

David brings home the run with a groundout to second. Not quite the three-run homer I was hoping for. Beltran up.

Follow that with a steal of second and a bunt single by Endy, and we're in business. First and third for Wright.

Reyes gets things started nicely with a leadoff single.

I bet if Santana's record was 10-4 instead of 7-7, everything else being the same, he'd be on the team.

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Now, if he was chasing Rachael Ray.... Bleah! My favorite TV foodie is Giada deLaurentis. Rachael Ray is, well... Bleah!

="AG/DC"] My position is that he should reject her for being a terrifying 50-year-old insane used-up succubus that'll haunt you until the day you die and beyond. That's a point that I'm not going to dispute. My hunch is that this isn't based on lust, but on spiritualism. ="beliefnet"] http://www.beliefnet.com/story/168/story_16883_1.html Why do you think so many celebrities are attracted to Kabbalah? It's hard not to be catty when answering a question like this. Part of being a celebrity is being on the cutting edge, doing what's "cool" at the moment. That isn't to say that all celebrities are shallow-they're not. Some of them are totally dedicated to their religious, political, and cultural causes and very deliberately use their celebrity to raise consciousness. But when you're a celebrity, you're also something of a billboard-companies pay you to wear their sneakers or their jewelry. Similarly, religious groups might court you because of the money or the publicity value that you supply. A lot of celebrities got into Kabbalah because other celebrity friends got them into it-because of peer pressure. It's worth noting that Madonna, Paris Hilton, Demi Moore, Britney Spears, Roseanne, et al get their Kabbalah from the Kabbalah Centre, which is very much the creation of one man, Philip Berg. Rav Berg has built the International Kabbalah Centres into a far-reaching empire, opening schools throughout the world and selling books, tapes, and products like "energetically blessed" bottled water. The relationship that the Kabbalah Centre enjoys with these celebrities is synergistic, to say the least. Finally, celebrities are often spiritually needy. Fame and its trappings may be ultimately unsatisfying, and immersing themselves in the study of an esoteric discipline can fill a sense of spiritual emptiness. The popularized Kabbalah, with its red string bracelets to ward off envy and malice, can be especially attractive to people in the public eye. I think that Rodriguez is drawn to the Kabbalah. If he had stumbled over Scientology instead, he'd be sneaking into Tom Cruise's apartment, which would make for even better headlines. And marriages have been known to fall apart when one partner embraces a new belief and the other doesn't.