Benjamin Grimm

Just a reminder, Schaefer POTG voting will resume today, after the conclusion of this afternoon's game. I may or may not be near my PC when the game ends, so if someone else wants to start the voting thread, that would be appreciated. (Just include Schaefer POTG in the subject, followed by the date and the final score, and include a link to an online box score.) Voting procedures, for those who are newbies or those who need a refresher, can be found here: http://cranepoolforum.net/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=6278 Since discussion in the voting threads complicates my magic spreadsheet, this thread should be used for any comments on your own voting choices, or those of others. (Comments on the votes of others don't seem to be appreciated all that much, however.) I'll also use this thread to post reminders of games that are about to be closed out. As noted in the procedures thread linked above, I let two full business days pass before tallying votes. For example, today's game, played on a Monday, will close on Thursday morning. A game played on a Thursday will typically close the following Tuesday. (That way we'll have Friday and Monday to vote. If the Monday is a holiday, the voting would likely be extended until Wednesday morning.) When voting closes in the morning, it's often "first thing," meaning shortly after I log in for the first time. So if I say voting will close on Thursday morning, don't assume you can post your votes just before you head to lunch. It might very well be closed by 7:30 or 8 a.m. So let the Schaefering begin! I'm hoping to be able to type "Santana 6" some time before I go to bed tonight.

I remember being particularly irked by Tommy Hutton in the Marlins booth. (He's the "get outta here, ball" guy, isn't he?) He also crowed with delight after that 7-run first inning on September 30. The less I hear of him the better.

I agree. They usually kill the feed as soon as they go to commercial for the first time. I was glad that they stuck with it for the 2006 NL East clinching celebration. And they also carried the 1986 20th Anniversary tribute as well.

Hey! I got that same message! I thought he had composed it for me, personally. It hurts me to discover that it was just a broadcast message. Makes me feel less special.

I just checked the online schedule for MLB Extra Innings, and discovered a new wrinkle for this season. And it's a nice one. In the past, each game was carried on one and only one channel. Now, for many (but not all) games, we get a choice of the home team feed or the visiting team feed. For this afternoon's game, I could watch Gary, Ron, and Keith on Channel 734, or the Marlins' group of louts on Channel 735. This means I'll have fewer chances to sample broadcasts from other cities, but in the vast majority of cases, that's a good thing. I recall from last year, the guys from Miami and from San Diego were among the worst. I think I kinda liked the Cincinnati guys, and I did hear Vin Scully doing the solo thing from Dodger Stadium, which was a real treat. I tried accessing the non-DirecTV version of the MLB EI schedule (at http://getbaseball.com) but they don't have the 2008 schedule online yet. So I don't yet know if this extra level of choice is just for DirecTV customers, or if everyone will get it.

I think I'd vote for "Buttercup" too. The Curley Shuffle belongs in the dustbin of history.

I don't believe in jinxes.

Does the game start at 4:10 or at 4:35? (I've heard both, but mostly it seems to be 4:10.) I would have taken the day off, but I had seven days off in the last two weeks, so I'll be watching via GameDay until 5, and then listening to WFAN for the 90-minute drive home. Unless it's a quick game, I should be able to catch the last few innings on MLB Extra Innings while I'm making dinner tonight. Santana will most likely be out of the game before I get to my TV, but there will be other chances to see him pitch, unless he pulls a Tim Leary.

The 1984 version of Meet the Mets mentions Shea by name, but the original version (the REAL version) doesn't.

AG/DC wrote: I think Steve Phillips was a Little Falls Met as well. Maybe that's where he roomed with Rich Rodriguez. I don't know about the roommate thing, but Phillips played 65 games for the Little Falls Mets in 1982: http://leaptoad.com/mets/profile.php?PlayerCode=6602

="ballparkreviews.com"]With its remote location in upstate New York, it is inconceivable that Little Falls could ever host minor league baseball again. Was Little Falls actually less remote back in the 1980's than it is now? Current NY-Penn League franchises: Aberdeen Brooklyn Hudson Valley Staten Island Auburn Batavia Jamestown Mahoning Valley State College Williamsport Lowell Oneonta Tri-City Vermont A couple of old Mets stomping grounds on the list. Williamsport was twice the AA home of the Mets in the Eastern League. And they were represented in the NY-Penn League by Batavia from 1972 through 1974, and in Auburn way back in 1962 through 1966. (The Batavia team used to be called the Trojans but now they're the Muckdogs. I wonder if the name change had to do with the famous brand of condoms. I'd like to come out with a line of condoms called "Muckdogs" to see if it would spur another name change.)

I was going to post this response in "Answer and Ye Shall Ask" but it probably better fits here. The question was which ex-Met would we hire to manage, coach, etc. the Little Falls Miners. (What do they mine in Little Falls, by the way? Coal?) There are 30 players who spent time with both the Little Falls Mets and the New York Mets.

If they were still in the New York-Penn league that $20,000 would be a bargain and I'd leap at that price.

Team Leaders Name the Met who will lead the team in each category. Only stats earned while a member of the Mets count. Minimum: 400 PA, or 120 IP as a Met needed for rate categories (BA, ERA, etc. unless otherwise specified). One point for each correct prediction. Batting 1) Games Wright 2) Hits Reyes 3) Doubles Wright 4) Triples Reyes 5) Home runs Beltran 6) RBI Wright 7) Stolen Bases Reyes 8) Caught stealing Reyes 9) Runs scored Reyes 10) Batting average Wright 11) On base percentage Wright 12) Slugging percentage Beltran 13) OPS Wright 14) Strikeouts Delgado (being optimistic that he'll play enough to lead the team!) 15) Walks Wright 16) Pinch-Hits Anderson Pitching 16) Wins Santana 17) Losses Perez 18) Strikeouts Santana 19) Walks Perez 20) ERA (starter - low) Santana 21) ERA (starter - high) Perez 22) ERA (reliever - low - min. 50 IP) Schoeneweis (wouldn't that be nice?) 23) ERA (reliever - high - min. 50 IP) Sosa 24) Saves Wagner 25) BAA (low) Santana 26) BAA (high) Perez 27) Games started Santana 28) Games pitched Heilman 29) Innings Pitched Santana Player-Specific Predictions 28) Jose Reyes: OBP .340 29) Jose Reyes: SB 55 30) Jose Reyes: Extra-Base Hits 55 31) Jose Reyes: Rank in League MVP Voting 15th 32) Luis Castillo: OBP .350 33) Luis Castillo: SB 22 34) Carlos Beltran: HR 35 35) Carlos Beltran: SB 15 36) Carlos Beltran: RBI 105 37) Carlos Beltran: Rank in League MVP Voting 9th 38) David Wright: HR 27 39) David Wright: RBI 114 40) David Wright: Walks 90 41) David Wright: SB 25 42) David Wright: Rank in League MVP Voting 4th 43) Carlos Delgado: HR 21 44) Carlos Delgado: RBI 82 45) Carlos Delgado: K 115 46) Carlos Delgado: Games Played 123 47) Moises Alou: At-Bats 275 48) Moises Alou: RBI 35 48) Endy Chavez: At-Bats 205 49) Angel Pagan: At-Bats 155 50) Ryan Church: OPS .755 51) Ryan Church: HR 20 52) Ryan Church: Games Played 135 53) Brian Schneider: OPS .701 54) Brian Schneider: Caught Stealing % 15% 55) Ramon Castro: Games Played 60 56) Marlon Anderson: OBP .320 57) Damion Easley: RBI 28 58) Johan Santana: W 17 59) Johan Santana: K 217 60) Johan Santana: ERA 3.20 61) Johan Santana: Rank in Cy Young Voting 3rd 61) Johan Santana: Rank in League MVP Voting 10th 62) Pedro Martinez: IP 162.2 63) Pedro Martinez: W 13 64) Pedro Martinez: K 144 64) John Maine: W 14 65) John Maine: ERA 3.55 66) Oliver Perez: W 10 67) Oliver Perez: K 160 68) Oliver Perez: BB 85 69) Orlando Hernandez: Games Started 11 70) Orlando Herandez: IP 77.1 71) Mike Pelfrey: Games Started 18 72) Mike Pelfrey: ERA 4.65 73) Billy Wagner: Saves 36 74) Aaron Heilman: ERA 2.95 75) Duaner Sanchez: IP 40 76) Duaner Sanchez: ERA 4.02 77) Pedro Feliciano: ERA 3.87 78) Scott Schoeneweis: ERA 2.68 79) Jorge Sosa: IP 51 Name the top five Mets pitchers in Games Started in 2007. One point for each one named correctly. A bonus of five points for getting all five correct 80) Santana 81) Maine 82) Martinez 83) Perez 84) Pelfrey Team Categories 84)Team ERA 3.85 85)Team batting average .261 86)Record 93-69 87)NL East Finish (1st, 2nd, etc.) 2nd 88)Games behind NL East Winner 2 89)Playoffs (Division winner, Wildcard winner, no playoffs) Wild Card 90)Playoff finish - (Win WS, Lose WS, Lose NLCS, Lose NLDS, no playoffs Lose World Series Tie-breakers 1st tie breaker - pick the NL Central Division Champion Milwaukee 2nd tie breaker - pick the American League Champion Detroit

Cool! Thanks, Michigan. We'll try to get there a few hours early. Do you need to be a ticket holder to do that hanging out that you described? (I'm wondering if we could check out the grounds, go elsewhere to eat, and then return.)

PHIL - 87.5 OVER WASH - 70.5 OVER FLA - 68.5 UNDER CHIC - 87.5 UNDER CINC - 79.5 UNDER StL - 78.5 OVER LAD - 87.5 UNDER COLO - 82.5 OVER

I was briefly intrigued by Gustavo Molina. During yesterday's telecast, Gary Cohen quoted Willie Randolph saying that Molina isn't ready yet, but he's going to be really good. I looked him up today, and found out he's a 26-year-old journeyman. Not that he can't still become really good, but I prefer my prospects to be closer to 21, especially if they're not ready yet.

I have tickets to Wednesday's game against the Indians in Port St. Lucie. Question for anyone who's been there: What's there to do at the park if we show up before the game? Are there fun activities for the kids? Decent selection of ballpark food? Are you able to watch the players work out? Mingle? Or is it best to just show up a half hour before the game and go straight to our seats?

Wasn't Billy Crystal all over the Mets bandwagon back in 1986? I remember at the time, I thought he was a Mets fan.

Angel or Coco? Coco or Angel? Sounds like a choice that Eliot Spitzer may have been asked to make.

Schaefer Pitcher of the Month, September 2007. He was one of the few guys contributing (along with Alou, Wright, and Beltran) during the infamous collapse. However, it would have been nice if his injury recovery didn't prevent him from squeezing in an additional start that month. It might have made all the difference.

It's better to look good than to play good.

I've been a Mets fan since I was 8 years old, an age where you're most likely to hear potty humor. And I never once heard anyone make fun of the Mets playing in "Flushing." If any 8-year-olds, or adults with the mentality of an 8-year-old, chose to make jokes about Shitty Field, well, I don't think I'll get my bowels in an uproar. I can't believe we're having this discussion AGAIN.

I agree with Frayed Knot, except that I'd give Kent a maybe.

Maybe they thought they were getting the Neil Diamond song.