Benjamin Grimm

I agree.

Way to go! Who's next? Steve Albert?

Edgy DC wrote: I don't think Superman has to look cool. I think it's best (or coolest) portraying him as a dork who has to deal with the notion that cool sailed away for him back in Smallville. I agree. Superman is a regular guy from Kansas who wouldn't know how, or be interested in, looking cool. The corny uniform is a key part of the package.

That would be a nice paragraph to kick off Lorn Brown's Wikipedia page. I'm surprised he doesn't have an entry. I thought everyone even moderately famous had an entry on Wikipedia.

I can't believe Edgy overlooked that Saskatchewan guy! Just as well, because it set up a nifty pun by Frayed Knot.

It was a Wikiuser named "TurboDan" who added that "Hold onto your hats" line. Should we now turn our attention to poor Lorn Brown?

I just added the following paragraphs to Bob's Wikipedia page. Hopefully it will stick: ]Murphy's broadcasts were known for their optimistic outlook. He would rarely be critical of players and would always strive to emphasize the positive. According to Gary Thorne, who was his partner in the Mets radio booth from 1985 to 1988, Murphy felt that, "the game was to be enjoyed and he sought out the joy in that day's game to bring to the fans." Murphy, despite his long association with the Mets, never openly rooted for the team from the booth. Listeners knew that he was happier when the Mets won, as evidenced by his mention of a "recap" after a loss and a "happy recap" after a win, but he never referred to the Mets as "we" and, reflecting his love of the game, he would sound equally excited when a good play was made against the Mets as he would when the Mets made a similar play. Because he was so well known for his sunny outlook, an unprecedented display of crankiness on his part received much attention. On July 25, 1990 in Philadelphia the Mets took a 10-3 lead into the ninth inning, but the Phillies opened the inning with seven consecutive singles, followed by a walk, and scored six runs to narrow the Mets lead to one run before the Mets were able to turn a double play and get a line drive out. Murphy's patience was apparently worn thin by the long inning, and when the game finally ended he famously exclaimed, "The Mets win! They win the damn thing by a score of 10 to 9!" The use of even such a mild expletive was so out of character that it was frequently cited as one of his more memorable moments following Murphy's death 14 years later.

How much of this is documentable, though? Using the following as validation, I just changed "hold on to your hats" to "fasten your seatbelts" http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/ny-spzip043917532aug04,0,6991643.column

First, am I right about "fasten your seatbelts"? Does anyone have any memory of him saying "hold on to your hats"? What else can we say about Bob Murphy that could be documented according to Wikipedia's standards? After pondering for a bit I came up with two things: An account of the day he was honored at Shea and received the number 42 Mets jersey and the famous incident where he said, "They win the damn game..." Other than that, his career was mostly remarkable for his consistency. He rarely made news; he was the guy who showed up for 42 years and did a terrific job. Keith Hernandez probably made more news in the booth in 2006 than Bob Murphy did his whole career.

Bob Murphy's Wikipedia entry: ="Wikipedia"]Robert Allan Murphy (19 September 1924 – 3 August 2004) was an American sportscaster who spent 50 years doing play-by-play of Major League Baseball games on television and radio. Murphy made his first appearance in a broadcast booth with the Muskogee, Oklahoma Reds. His first major league job was with the Boston Red Sox in 1954, working alongside Curt Gowdy. In 1960, he moved to the Baltimore Orioles for two seasons. Murphy's call of Roger Maris' record-tying 60th home run of the 1961 season became an audition tape that landed him a job with the expansion New York Mets in 1962. Murphy remained in the Mets broadcast booth until his retirement in 2003. He joined long-time colleague Lindsey Nelson as a recipient of the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award in 1994. Murphy was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1984. Among Bob Murphy's trademark calls were the following: "Well Hiiiiiii everybody, Bob Murphy, along with (insert co-announcers' names)." "Here to paint the word picture for you" (introducing his radio play-by-play colleague) "Heeeeeeeee struck him out!" "Oh what a play!" "He's looking at nine miles of bad road" (when a pitcher was in a tight spot) "We'll be back with the happy recap in just a moment." (after a Mets win) "Hold on to your hats!" (Going into a tight ninth inning.) Murphy was also an announcer for the New York Titans (now the New York Jets) of the American Football League. In addition, in 1973 he hosted the New York edition of Bowling for Dollars, a locally-produced game show, on WOR-TV. After the 2003 season, Murphy retired to Florida. He died of lung cancer in West Palm Beach. After his passing, the Mets honored Bob Murphy's memory by wearing a patch on the left sleeve of their uniforms for the rest of the 2004 season. It's kind of a shorter entry than Bob Murphy deserves. I wish I could think of more to add to it. It should at least include the word "beloved," I would think. And "hold on to your hats?" I remember him saying "fasten your seatbelts."

Hey! Who said you could call me a New York snob??

No, I don't know which line you mean. Was it what he said at the end? (I can't remember what it was, but I seem to remember that it was something clever.) Or at the opening when he was yelling at Leo?

I saw it yesterday and I voted 6. I don't necessarily agree with the wording that went with the number. (It's probably best not to add the cute descriptions. It makes it harder to vote what you think.) It was good. I enjoyed Leo. I thought that the girl was Jennifer Love Hewitt in a wig, but the closing credits proved me wrong. Jack was Jack, and I'm so tired of his act that if anything he hindered the movie. That "rat" impression he did got chuckles from others in the theater but I was probably rolling my eyes. I didn't like the way it ended. SPOILER WARNING! That scene near the elevator where one person after another got shot was just ridiculous. I don't mind that there wasn't a happy ending, but the way Leo's character just got thrown away at the end of a long movie was unsatisfying. And then seeing everyone else got shot one after the other was just too much for me. So overall, eh.

Call me a New York snob, but calling it "one of the finest medical facilities in Northeastern Oklahoma" seems to me to be damning it with faint praise.

I think I'd hate it there.

I e-mailed the Hall of Fame to get his birthdate and birthplace (and Lindsey Nelson's as well) a few years ago. They replied with the birthdate but not the place. I don't know if it's because they didn't know or because they didn't read the e-mail carefully enough. I don't recall it being mentioned in any of the obituaries I read either. Maybe if you wrote to the HOF you'd get a better response than I did.

This image of Marlon Anderson is interesting because he's shaking hands with a baseball legend, Nationals manager Frank Robinson right after F. Robby won his 1000th game as a manager. Frank doesn't seem too focused on who's hand he's shaking. How must it feel to congratulate somebody who's so busy being congratulated by others that he barely notices you?

Edgy posted one of him dressed as the Queen of France, but I wasn't able to see it. I guess you couldn't either.

We're halfway through our Andersons. MARLON is next. Marlon Anderson (2005) Rick Anderson (1986) Bob Apodaca (1973 - 1977) Kevin Appier (2001) Jerry Arrigo (1966) Richie Ashburn (1962) Tucker Ashford (1983) Bob Aspromonte (1971) Pedro Astacio (2002, 2003) Benny Ayala (1974, 1976) Manny Aybar (2005)

He also thinks the Mets are going to run away with the division again, which I consider very unlikely. The 1986 Mets didn't run away two years in a row, and they were a better team. Of course, they also had a strong division rival in the Cardinals; the Mets may or may not have a strong competitor in the East in 2007. But last year's early lead helped the Mets get away with a shakey starting rotation that had a lot of turnover. I can't imagine them being that lucky again this year. They may repeat as division champs, but I think it will be much more of a struggle. I don't anticipate any magic number updates in May.

And with over-the-hill guys manning two of their outfield positions, the Mets will need all the outfield depth that they can get.

soupcan wrote: ="Yancy Street Gang"] (I don't remember or understand the reason for the problem. I just remember Mets caps looking "reversed." The orange NY insignia looked darker than the blue of the cap.) I remember that. Thought it was pretty cool looking. The "Mets" script on the jerseys looked reversed too. It looked like the lettering was orange on a blue background.

If the pictures were being taken for newspapers they would have taken them in black and white because the papers weren't printing color photos back then, except maybe on the front or back cover. I remember when Newsday first switched to color film they had a problem printing those color photos in black and white. (I don't remember or understand the reason for the problem. I just remember Mets caps looking "reversed." The orange NY insignia looked darker than the blue of the cap.)

Here's what confuses me about all this. Don't some of the kids visiting still believe in Santa? Do they know that this Santa is David Wright? Would they rather see David Wright or the real Santa Claus? I'd think they'd want to see both! I'd think they'd be better off with somebody over 60 playing Santa, and David Wright alongside him, greeting the kids. Anyway, I know John Franco was Santa for many years, but who have the post-Franco Santas been? Who filled the role between Franco and Benson? Did Mike Cameron ever do it?

This is about as interesting as it gets for George Altman: Most pictures I was able to find were baseball card head shots of him as a Cub, like this one. Searching for George Altman also yielded this image, which looks like a female Silver Surfer. If that was really the George Altman who played for the Mets, it would be very interesting: Time to find a picture of LUIS ALVARADO