Benjamin Grimm

Lines on the face don't make a woman unattractive. I know I felt differently when I was 25, but my tastes have aged as I have. If I was single right now, I'd be looking for a 40-something, not a 20-something.

Cars was okay. (I have no opinion on Larry one way or the other.) So was Ratatouille. They haven't had a movie that I really enjoyed since The Incredibles. Wall-E had its moments, but they were too few and far between. This is a movie I'll never sit through again. I went with my wife, my two kids, and my daughter's friend. My wife thought it was cute. My son, 11, was as bored as I was. My daughter, 7, liked it. Her friend, 9, said it was the "longest movie I ever saw." This is the first Pixar movie that failed to be better than The Bee Movie.

soupcan wrote: All this sticking up for Ollie is fine but are any of you guys ready to throw Santana money at him in this off-season? I'm not. Me neither. That's why I'm in favor of trading him this month, although I acknowledge that he'd be hard to replace from within for the next few months. (Maybe they can sign Freddy Garcia. Or maybe Orlando Hernandez really WILL pitch again. Or maybe the Perez deal would yield a guy, with less upside than Perez, of course, who could join the rotation. Otherwise, we're looking at Santana, Maine, Pelfrey, Martinez, Armas/Vargas.)

I've never had sex with a 50-year-old, and don't expect to until 2021, when my wife reaches that age. I'm 45 though, and am certainly capable of finding a 50-year-old woman to be attractive. Even lust-worthy. I don't know that I felt that way when I was 32, though. But that really is besides the point. Alex Rodriguez has to know that everything he does is under the microscope. If he couldn't get away with escorting an unknown stripper in Toronto, he certainly should have known that he couldn't keep an affair with Madonna under the radar. One thing I saw said that they bonded over kaballah. (I'm not really sure what that is; some kind of ancient Hebrew mysticism, I think?) I really haven't been paying attention to the details. Other than that story about the Polo Ground stairway, the non-sports (and funnies) pages of the Daily News have been especially skippable lately. It's all Alex and Cindy Rodriguez, Christie Brinkley, and the Russian suicide model.

I definitely have found myself feeling a lot better lately about Damon Easley when he steps up to the plate, and I'll enjoy that feeling for however long it lasts. The Murphy thing is interesting. I wonder if they're thinking that they'll need him frequently as a backup to a Castillo who's prone to missing time, or if the thought is more towards finding a replacement for Castillo. My guess is that it's the former, but in time it will become more of the latter. It would be good if Murphy could advance to the majors as Castillo's ever-more-frequent backup, and eventually nudge Castillo out the door.

I too turned off the game after Werth's homer. I did a half hour on the treadmill, took a shower, read my daughter a chapter from her Harry Potter book, and then checked online and saw the happy (and surprising) final score. I had that game mentally filed in the Loss column.

AG/DC wrote: Adam Rubin is reporting that Tony Bernazard wants to keep this team together through the second half. Is he saying that none of these guys should expect to get to New Orleans this year?

When I was a kid I liked the All Star Game because it was a chance to root for guys like Johnny Bench and Willie Stargell and Juan Marichal instead of against them. And when we got into the mid-80's, it was fun to see so many Mets in the starting lineup, and to root for guys like Strawberry and Gooden do well on the big stage. By around 1990, though, both of those aspects and worn out for me. And the 1994 strike forever killed my interest in the All Star Game (among other things), and the only thing that will bring it back is if my daughter someday plays in the game, as she seems to think will happen.

Well, yeah, that would be worse. I guess my point was that the Mets shouldn't let the possibility of a glut prevent them from making a deal. I'm less gung-ho about trading Oliver Perez than I was a week ago, but I'm also thinking this his trade value may not be as high as it is now by this time next week.

I thought this was interesting. It was on today's editorial page in the News, accompanied by a photo of Willie Mays making that 1954 World Series catch off the bat of Vic Wertz. N.Y. Daily News editorial page wrote: Let's go, teams! The only remains of the storied Polo Grounds is a battered stairway that extends from Coogan's Bluff to lower ground. Nowhere was more sports history made by more New York teams than in the Polo Grounds - and no place has been more forgotten. Only a plaque in a housing project marks the spot where the Giants, Yankees and Mets of baseball took a field that was also shared with the football Giants and Jets. And all that remains of the storied stadium complex at 155th St. and Eighth Ave. is a battered stairway that extends from Coogan's Bluff to lower ground. Its 80 concrete steps were a 1913 gift to the city from the owner of the baseball Giants. Embedded in a landing, steel letters read: "THE JOHN T. BRUSH STAIRWAY PRESENTED BY THE NEW YORK GIANTS'." In their time, the steps were a prime route for walking from the neighborhood to the ballpark. Today, they are broken, lined by rusted handrails and closed off behind fencing that bears "No trespassing" signs. And that's wrong. The stairs could be a valuable convenience that connects two communities, as well as the upper and lower portions of Highbridge Park. They could also commemorate the many agonies and ecstasies of the Polo Grounds. New York will this year mark the closure of Yankee Stadium and the coming of a Mets arena designed to recall Brooklyn's Ebbets Field. Let us, too, refurbish the Polo Grounds steps. There will be a cost, but one that would surely be affordable through the combined generosity of the five teams that shared the Polo Grounds over the decades. The baseball Giants called the stadium home from 1890 to 1957, when the team left for San Francisco. It's where Bobby Thomson hit the shot heard 'round the world off the Dodgers' Ralph Branca. It's where Willie Mays made "The Catch" (photo) in the '54 World Series. All told, the Giants won 15 pennants and five Series at the Polo Grounds - and haven't been champs since they left. The Yankees played in the Polo Grounds before moving to the Bronx. Babe Ruth made his New York debut there; the Yanks won their first pennant there, and they faced off there in 1921 against the Giants in a Series that was the first played on a single field and the first to be broadcast by radio. The stadium was also birthplace to the Super Bowl champ Giants, who won three NFL titles in their 30-year residency, most famously beating the Bears in the 1934 Sneakers Game - so named because the Giants' players wore rubber-soled shoes on the frozen turf. The Jets, then called the Titans, arrived at the Polo Grounds in 1960 as part of the upstart American Football League. And, in 1962, National League hardball returned with the Amazin'ly bumbling pre-Shea Mets. Fans of all five teams used the staircase. It is fondly remembered by New Yorkers who are, well, old-timers. New generations should have the pleasure, particularly fans of Highbridge Park, which runs north and south on two levels of upper Manhattan's terrain. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe says he would love to restore the Polo Grounds stairs to public use but lacks the money to get the job done. Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has secured a down payment of $400,000. What's needed now is a true team effort. They have $400,000? How much more do you need to fix a staircase? It didn't cost that much to build my entire house!

N.Y. Daily News wrote: Worried Ryan Church is headed for more tests BY ANDY MARTINO DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Sunday, July 6th 2008, 10:20 PM PHILADELPHIA - Ryan Church slumped on a stool in the Mets' clubhouse Sunday morning, his shoulders hunched and his eyes glassy. The tangle of emotions - anger, fear, relief - combined to make him feel exhausted. Concussions have been the unwelcome theme of his season, and after Saturday's migraine, the subject isn't going away. In fact, it will now intensify: the Daily News has learned that Church was likely headed to New York after Sunday's game to be examined. Church did not play in the 4-2 win over Philadelphia, and now he's poised to miss even more time - after spending much of June on the disabled list with post-concussion symptoms. His season seems in question. This latest round of concern began when Church left Saturday night's game in the eighth inning with dizziness. He phoned Anita Wu, the neurologist at New York Hospital for Special Surgery who has been treating him. Wu told Church his symptoms were consistent with the migraines he has experienced since the ninth grade, and Church was relieved. "I called my wife (Saturday) night and told her I was glad it was only a migraine," he said early yesterday. "She started laughing, like, 'You used to hate migraines.'" But relief had turned back to fear and frustration after Sunday's win, as Church, appearing distraught, quickly left Citizens Bank Park without speaking to the media. Church has suffered two concussions on the field this year, the first on March 1 during spring training and the second on May 20 against Atlanta. After continuing to experience effects of the second injury, he went on the DL June 10. He returned last Sunday and started every game until Friday, when he complained of fatigue. Church also felt tired in San Francisco in early June, the week before the Mets shut him down. At that time, the Mets were criticized for relying on Church to decide whether he could play after the second concussion. Jerry Manuel said yesterday that the team would no longer allow the patient to dictate treatment. "I'm just going to take it out of his hands," Manuel said. "It's so frustrating," Church said, shaking his head while pointing to it. "I'm fine, except for this." With Adam Rubin

I don't. I hope Wright wins, but whether he does or not, I'm still not voting or watching. (I guess I give fewer craps about the All Star Game than soupcan does.)

Yep, this game is a big one. I hope Pedro Martinez had Wheaties for breakfast this morning.

The Mets need to make a deal this month for an outfielder. A real one, not a Trot Nixon. A guy who can be a starting corner outfielder on a contending team. What's the worst that can happen? Alou and Church are both healthy the rest of the way, and there's a glut in the outfield. That would be a nice problem to have. I can't see the Mets winning anything this year with Beltran flanked every day by guys like Endy Chavez and Chris Aguila.

Yeah, I'd MUCH rather see them overcome a bad start by Pedro than lose despite a good one. There are seven games remaining before the All-Star break. My goal is to have the Mets win five of them. (More would be nice too, of course.) A win against the Phillies tonight, no matter how ugly, and then two of three against both the Giants and Rockies. That would leave them with a modest 49-46 (.516) record, which, no matter how modest, is a lot better than where they've been for most of the year.

Voting for the July 2 loss to the Cardinals will close on Tuesday morning. Schaefer POTG 7/2/08 - Cardinals 8, Mets 7

Perez 4.5 Tatis 2 Beltran 2 Smith 1.5

I'm considering going to Saturday's game, and I'm not too pleased that it lines up as a Pedro start. How times have changed!

I agree, this would be a Big Win. And it would be considerably bigger if the Mets could win 6-2 with six solid innings from Pedro than if they won 8-6 with five lousy innings from Pedro.

Good. I'm glad he's not a Phillie or a Yankee. Although there's a chance that the Wild Card might come down to a battle between the Mets and the Brewers. If that happens, then maybe I'd rather he was a Phillie or a Yankee.

I think it was a dud. For the first time, Pixar has struck out.

What happens if they never resume? Does the entire eighth inning get wiped out, giving Perez a 7-inning CG/ShO? Or (more likely) does it go into the books as a 7 and a half inning game? And do the Phillies stats in the bottom of the eighth count?

Vince Coleman Firecracker wrote: Didn't see right before the rain delay started, did Feliciano warm up? He was on the mound, ready to face Howard, when the tarp was summoned.

Maine 2 Schneider 2.5 Easley 2.5 Sanchez 1 Delgado 1 Reyes 1

Santana 5 Castro 1.5