Benjamin Grimm

Here are some examples from my e-mail archives of UMDB visitors checking up on people they know who claim to have been former Mets. I'm leaving out the names of the "players": March, 2001: I'm not sure what year he played but I know that he was a Pitcher for the Mets and was traded either from the Indians or to the Mets. Please let me know. He is now a coach for my sons Bronco Pony team. Thanks March, 2002: I have a friend who played for the Mets in the 80's. I'll have to get the year. He played AAA and went-up for several games. Many years ago, his mother died when he was out of the country and all of his stuff was lost. He doesn't even have his old jersey. I was wondering if you could point me to a place or someone who could help me locate any photos or footage of when he played. I would also like to find jerseys, caps, etc from those years. I will try to get more details on the years. August, 2001: Hello ultimateMETSdata, Your site is EXCELLENT, thank you!! Today while gathering information I decided to search your player database. The results were unexpected, and I am sure this "missing player" would be disappointed a second time to find that his potential career was even further diminished by this "oversight" in your list. Yes, I read your FAQ on the subject: "...we've received numerous e-mails telling us that we've missed one player or another, almost always based on the word of the alleged missing player. ...but have yet to discover that we have in fact missed anybody.". Perhaps this is a spelling error on my part (quite possible) and since you "check out every claim..." I will apologize in advance for yet another email. However, this is true: In the "early days" of the METS (during the 60's), though only for a portion of the season, a young FASTball pitcher named XXX XXXXXX (now in his late 50's) was dropped due to a shoulder injury. His speed was clocked amongst the highest-ever (at the time). Needless to say, this misfortune redirected his life. As a result, he does use this as an accomplishment of "...an imaginary past.". Rather, he is surprised by one's discovery, and uncomfortable with the attention that results. However, I know you agree that credit earned is truly credit deserved. Whether or not he ever visits your site (at present I am not sharing this info) will you be so kind as to revisit your database concerning this player and keep me apprised? June, 2001: I would think Todd Hundley would be on the list and Edgardo Alfonzo should be too along with John Franco. And whats with Mays making the list I mean 2 years at the end of a great career do not a Met all time make, if so then Foster should be too. And Valentine should not be unless as a mgr. Fun list anyway and I am a lifetime fan of the team. Thank You. May, 2000: I was wondering if you ever had a player named XXX XXXXX play for the Mets. He graduated from the University of Miami. He won a national championship with the University of Miami back in 1983 (I think). He played catcher and played most of his career in triple A. I think he said he played around 1989. I would appreciate any information you can give me on this player.

I don't know about your second question, but the answer to your first question is a definite maybe. (If you had said "many" instead of "a hundred" I'd have given you a solid "yes".) There seem to be many baseball books with insufficient fact checking. The author just goes by memory, I guess. Errors like that spoiled my enjoyment of The Bad Guys Won. I didn't spot many errors in that book, but the several that I did notice cast suspicion on everything else in the book.

Mostly those were the racists. I hope Barry Bonds breaks his ankle, and soon.

No, Venom isn't worth the price of admission. And I'm sorry, but I have no idea who Bruce Campbell is.

If you're smart enough to send a resume, then you're overqualified. That's why we're having trouble filling the position.

No, no nudity. I took my ten-year-old AND my five-year-old.

Grady is lucky to have gotten a second managing job after that disaster in 2003. I never would have hired him for any position other than "Dumb Guy."

You got THAT right!

Well, they didn't want to set up Spider-Man 4 because they didn't know there would be one, and they didn't want to leave loose ends. We still don't know but given the box office the movie has done, I think a fourth movie is now inevitable. Whether it has the same cast and crew won't be known for a while.

Irish, I had no idea you were so articulate!

This movie wasn't made with a Spider-Man 4 in mind. There may yet be one, but this movie doesn't set us up in any way for what might come next.

Only if you ask nicely.

But an error can be scored if the misplay prevents even the first out of the double play. In other words, you can assume the force out, but not the double play.

Snyder belongs to Sosa because he replaced Young on the bases. If Sosa hadn't allowed Young to reach base, Smith would have been able to retire Snyder because he would have been out at first.

I'm just not observant enough for this game, I'm afraid. The other day I was watching the Mets with my five-year-old daughter and she pointed out several things about David Wright that I had never noticed myself. She commented on, among other things, the position of his right elbow when he takes his batting stance, the way he taps the plate with his bat, and the way he positions his fanny as the pitcher goes into his delivery.

Probably so they can sell three times the merchandise. Actually, each of the villains did play a key role not only in the action, but in the theme of the movie, so the reason probably isn't as crass as merchandising. Though I'm sure the suits don't mind that aspect. Spidey 2 was terrific, but when it comes to comic book movies I judge them by the ten-year-old inside of me. The first movie gave me multiple goosebumps. Spidey 2 only once. And Spidey 3 not at all. My order of preference is the same as the order in which the movies were produced, but in my opinion the quality gap between Spidey 2 and Spidey 3 is greater than that between 1 and 2.

This year's Dave Williams, it sounds like. A good option to have, I guess. Hopefully they'll never need to turn to him. It would be good if the Mets could get through the season without anybody other than the following pitchers getting any starts: Glavine, Hernandez, Perez, Maine, Pelfrey, Sosa, Pedro.

I enjoyed a Spider Weekend with my son this past weekend. We watched Spider-Man on DVD on Friday night. We then watched Spider-Man 2 on Saturday morning, and then on Saturday afternoon we went to the theater to see Spider-Man 3. I liked it. I didn't like it as much as I liked Spider-Man 2, which I didn't like as much as I liked Spider-Man, which remains my favorite Marvel Comics movie.

Last call for Thursday's series opener in Phoenix against the Diamondbacks: http://cybermessageboard.ehost.com/getalife/viewtopic.php?t=6267 (This was the game with the six-run rally in the ninth inning.) Voting will close on Tuesday morning.

Lino Urdaneta is number 810. And Del Unser finally has some company: http://www.leaptoad.com/mets/roster.php#U

Ronnie shares an anecdote about Junior Ortiz. "His English wasn't great, and his Spanish wasn't great either." He spoke with a stutter, and he'd chew tobacco. When he'd come to the mound to talk, he'd be stuttering and drooling tobacco juice and it took him ten minutes to say whatever he had to say. This is why it's so nice to have announcers with a history with the team. A crew of new guys wouldn't have Junior Ortiz anecdotes.

Delgado looks a bit like Keith, turning a 3-6-3 double play.

Maine 3 Wagner 1 Lo Duca 2 Franco 2 Reyes 1 Beltran 1

="Edgy DC"]Does calling something a stereotype mean it's false? I think it means that it's not as common as people believe. There are always some who do fit the stereotype. Not everyone is Poland is smart. And some French people really are rude.

The Wednesday afternoon win over the Marlins at Shea could use a few more votes. Voting will close over the weekend. http://cybermessageboard.ehost.com/getalife/viewtopic.php?t=6254