Benjamin Grimm

I still think Leiter's a good guy.

She'll be 44 in June, which makes her almost a year older than me. And she's still mighty fine. There was probably a time when I thought of 44 as too old. (Like maybe when I was 16.) But those days are long gone. Elster, would Jessica Alba be a better example for you?

As I said, I'm influenced by wishful thinking. I picked the Mets to get to the World Series, but lose to Toronto. If I take partisianship out of the equation, I'd say that the Mets have a reasonable shot at the wild card, but I don't expect that they'll reach the World Series.

The Italy team was a joke. I wasn't paying enough attention to South Africa or Netherlands to know whether I'd have a similar opinion about them. I was surprised that it was hard to come up with 16 legitimate teams. I wonder if there are more Latin American countries where baseball is growing. Do they play in Nicaragua? Guatemala? Haiti?

Now Olerud has the White Sox losing the ALDS and advancing to the ALCS. These World Baseball Classic tie-breaking rules make everything confusing.

So far I'm the only one who kept the Yankees out of the playoffs.

I'll freely admit, there's a good dose of wishful thinking in this. I had to pull myself short of picking a Flushing World Championship, though. NL East: ATL, NYM, PHI, WAS, FLA NL Central: STL, HOU, CHC, MIL, CIN, PIT NL West: SD, SF, LAD, ARZ, COL WC: NYM AL East: TOR, NYY, BOS, BAL, TB AL Central: CHW, CLE, MIN, DET, KC AL West: LAA, OAK, TEX, SEA WC: CLE 1st Round: NYM over SD, STL over ATL, LAA over CLE, TOR over CHW League Championships: NYM over STL, TOR over LAA World Series: TOR over NYM

You have the White Sox losing to the Yankees in the first round, but advancing to the ALCS anyway. I'd love to see that somehow happen. Steinbrenner would go ballistic.

Yes, I agree, but Horace would've done it better.

I'm watching Bill Maher interview Pete Rose right now. Rose is appearing on satellite from a Las Vegas casino. He sure knows how to enhance his image, doesn't he?

I'm optimistic. Two years ago, right around this time, I was so sure that the Mets wouldn't be in the post-season that I purchased plane tickets to Rome that had me departing on the evening of World Series Game 4. This year, I'm not going to make any October plans. That doesn't mean I'm certain they'll be there; I'm not that optimistic. But I am looking forward to a pennant race in a way that I haven't since 2002! (And no, you don't need to remind me of how 2002 turned out.)

I've never actually seen anyone crying their way into a bank. I'd like to do that some time, because only wealthy people get to cry themselves to the bank.

I have to admit, I'm paying more attention to this thing, and liking it more, than I expected to.

Edgy DC wrote: I recall an actual account of of Coke machine copulation in (I think) an eighties Sports Illustrated expose of steroids in the professional bodybuilding circuit. I don't get it. What's the connection between Coke machines and steroids? (Or is the answer not fit for nine-year-olds?)

I'm hoping that the winner will come from Latin America. It would mean much more to the fans than it will to us if the US wins. Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico are all kosher for me. Cuba, too, I guess.

DING!

I'm starting to relish the idea of this being a major flop.

I just discovered (through following links in the UMDB log file) that Mookie is only a "stub" on Wikipedia. They're looking for more information about Mookie. Anyone interested?

See the fifth post in this thread.

That was terrific. Great job by Frayed Knot setting that up. (And Patchy too, who I assume was also involved.) I hope he decides to visit us again some day.

Adam, thanks for all these great answers. Let's talk about Art Howe a little bit. Was he as bad a fit for the Mets as he seemed? Is there anything good you can say about his tenure that we might not have picked up on? How would you compare him to Willie Randolph, in his ability, his approach, the respect the players had for him? Fred Wilpon's desire to win has been questioned in this forum. What do you think? Is he as driven to win a World Series as Steinbrenner is? Or do the Wilpons put more value on revenue than championships?

There were a few that I wasn't sure of, so I skipped them. That leaves me with 200 that I know I've seen: 15 ) Nosferatu ( 1922 ) 26 ) The Phantom of the Opera ( 1925 ) 35 ) The Jazz Singer ( 1927 ) 50 ) Little Caesar ( 1930 ) 55 ) Dracula ( 1931 ) 56 ) Frankenstein ( 1931 ) 64 ) I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang ( 1932 ) 71 ) 42nd Street ( 1933 ) 75 ) Duck Soup ( 1933 ) 78 ) King Kong ( 1933 ) 86 ) It Happened One Night ( 1934 ) 87 ) The Thin Man ( 1934 ) 89 ) Mutiny on the Bounty ( 1935 ) 90 ) A Night at the Opera ( 1935 ) 92 ) Bride of Frankenstein ( 1935 ) 97 ) My Man Godfrey ( 1936 ) 98 ) Mr. Deeds Goes to Town ( 1936 ) 107 ) Stella Dallas ( 1937 ) 108 ) The Life of Emile Zola ( 1937 ) 110 ) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( 1937 ) 113 ) Jezebel ( 1938 ) 114 ) The Adventures of Robin Hood ( 1938 ) 115 ) Angels with Dirty Faces ( 1938 ) 118 ) Bringing Up Baby ( 1938 ) 122 ) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington ( 1939 ) 123 ) The Wizard of Oz ( 1939 ) 124 ) Destry Rides Again ( 1939 ) 126 ) Gone With the Wind ( 1939 ) 128 ) Gunga Din ( 1939 ) 129 ) Ninotchka ( 1939 ) 134 ) Fantasia ( 1940 ) 135 ) The Philadelphia Story ( 1940 ) 136 ) The Grapes of Wrath ( 1940 ) 138 ) Pinocchio ( 1940 ) 141 ) Citizen Kane ( 1941 ) 142 ) The Lady Eve ( 1941 ) 143 ) The Wolf Man ( 1941 ) 144 ) The Maltese Falcon ( 1941 ) 145 ) Sergeant York ( 1941 ) 146 ) Dumbo ( 1941 ) 147 ) High Sierra ( 1941 ) 152 ) Casablanca ( 1942 ) 153 ) To Be or Not to Be ( 1942 ) 156 ) Yankee Doodle Dandy ( 1942 ) 163 ) The Ox-Bow Incident ( 1943 ) 164 ) Shadow of a Doubt ( 1943 ) 167 ) To Have and Have Not ( 1944 ) 168 ) Laura ( 1944 ) 172 ) Double Indemnity ( 1944 ) 176 ) Mildred Pierce ( 1945 ) 185 ) The Postman Always Rings Twice ( 1946 ) 186 ) My Darling Clementine ( 1946 ) 187 ) The Stranger ( 1946 ) 193 ) Notorious ( 1946 ) 195 ) It's a Wonderful Life ( 1946 ) 212 ) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre ( 1948 ) 215 ) Kind Hearts and Coronets ( 1949 ) 217 ) Adam's Rib ( 1949 ) 219 ) White Heat ( 1949 ) 228 ) All About Eve ( 1950 ) 229 ) Sunset Blvd. ( 1950 ) 233 ) A Streetcar Named Desire ( 1951 ) 234 ) Strangers on a Train ( 1951 ) 237 ) The African Queen ( 1951 ) 245 ) Singin' in the Rain ( 1952 ) 250 ) High Noon ( 1952 ) 262 ) Gentlemen Prefer Blondes ( 1953 ) 267 ) Shane ( 1953 ) 268 ) Beat the Devil ( 1953 ) 271 ) Seven Brides for Seven Brothers ( 1954 ) 296 ) Rebel without a Cause ( 1955 ) 302 ) Forbidden Planet ( 1956 ) 308 ) Giant ( 1956 ) 310 ) Invasion of the Body Snatchers ( 1956 ) 314 ) The Ten Commandments ( 1956 ) 315 ) 12 Angry Men ( 1957 ) 334 ) Vertigo ( 1958 ) 335 ) Ashes and Diamonds ( 1958 ) 340 ) North by Northwest ( 1959 ) 341 ) Some Like It Hot ( 1959 ) 349 ) Ben-Hur ( 1959 ) 352 ) Rio Bravo ( 1959 ) 364 ) Psycho ( 1960 ) 367 ) The Apartment ( 1960 ) 368 ) Spartacus ( 1960 ) 389 ) To Kill a Mockingbird ( 1962 ) 393 ) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance ( 1962 ) 407 ) The Great Escape ( 1963 ) 454 ) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ( 1966 ) 460 ) The Graduate ( 1967 ) 471 ) Bonnie and Clyde ( 1967 ) 474 ) The Jungle Book ( 1967 ) 481 ) Planet of the Apes ( 1968 ) 483 ) Rosemary's Baby ( 1968 ) 486 ) The Producers ( 1968 ) 489 ) 2001: A Space Odyssey ( 1968 ) 496 ) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ( 1969 ) 497 ) Midnight Cowboy ( 1969 ) 501 ) Easy Rider ( 1969 ) 517 ) Patton ( 1970 ) 518 ) M*A*S*H ( 1970 ) 528 ) Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory ( 1971 ) 532 ) Harold and Maude ( 1971 ) 535 ) The French Connection ( 1971 ) 551 ) The Godfather ( 1972 ) 559 ) The Sting ( 1973 ) 562 ) American Graffiti ( 1973 ) 563 ) Papillon ( 1973 ) 584 ) Young Frankenstein ( 1974 ) 585 ) Chinatown ( 1974 ) 587 ) Blazing Saddles ( 1974 ) 588 ) The Godfather Part II ( 1974 ) 592 ) One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest ( 1975 ) 606 ) Jaws ( 1975 ) 608 ) Carrie ( 1976 ) 610 ) All the President's Men ( 1976 ) 611 ) Rocky ( 1976 ) 612 ) Taxi Driver ( 1976 ) 618 ) Star Wars ( 1977 ) 619 ) Close Encounters of the Third Kind ( 1977 ) 621 ) Annie Hall ( 1977 ) 627 ) Eraserhead ( 1977 ) 636 ) The Deer Hunter ( 1978 ) 637 ) Grease ( 1978 ) 642 ) Halloween ( 1978 ) 650 ) All That Jazz ( 1979 ) 652 ) Kramer vs. Kramer ( 1979 ) 654 ) Apocalypse Now ( 1979 ) 655 ) The Jerk ( 1979 ) 656 ) The Muppet Movie ( 1979 ) 663 ) The Shining ( 1980 ) 664 ) The Empire Strikes Back ( 1980 ) 665 ) The Elephant Man ( 1980 ) 666 ) The Big Red One ( 1980 ) 668 ) Airplane! ( 1980 ) 670 ) Raiders of the Lost Ark ( 1981 ) 676 ) An American Werewolf in London ( 1981 ) 681 ) E.T. The Extra-Terestrial ( 1982 ) 683 ) Poltergeist ( 1982 ) 686 ) Tootsie ( 1982 ) 688 ) Diner ( 1982 ) 694 ) A Christmas Story ( 1983 ) 697 ) Return of the Jedi ( 1983 ) 705 ) The King of Comedy ( 1983 ) 706 ) The Right Stuff ( 1983 ) 712 ) The Terminator ( 1984 ) 716 ) Beverly Hills Cop ( 1984 ) 717 ) Ghostbusters ( 1984 ) 721 ) The Natural ( 1984 ) 722 ) The Breakfast Club ( 1985 ) 727 ) The Purple Rose of Cairo ( 1985 ) 728 ) Back to the Future ( 1985 ) 739 ) Stand By Me ( 1986 ) 740 ) Blue Velvet ( 1986 ) 741 ) Hannah and Her Sisters ( 1986 ) 749 ) Platoon ( 1986 ) 754 ) Top Gun ( 1986 ) 762 ) Full Metal Jacket ( 1987 ) 764 ) "Good Morning, Vietnam " ( 1987 ) 768 ) The Princess Bride ( 1987 ) 770 ) The Untouchables ( 1987 ) 773 ) Fatal Attraction ( 1987 ) 777 ) Bull Durham ( 1988 ) 785 ) Big ( 1988 ) 790 ) Die Hard ( 1988 ) 793 ) Rain Man ( 1988 ) 797 ) Batman ( 1989 ) 798 ) When Harry Met Sally ( 1989 ) 806 ) Glory ( 1989 ) 814 ) Goodfellas ( 1990 ) 823 ) Edward Scissorhands ( 1990 ) 837 ) The Silence of the Lambs ( 1991 ) 849 ) Bram Stoker's Dracula ( 1992 ) 853 ) The Crying Game ( 1992 ) 858 ) Groundhog Day ( 1993 ) 860 ) Philadelphia ( 1993 ) 861 ) Jurassic Park ( 1993 ) 862 ) The Age of Innocence ( 1993 ) 864 ) Schindler's List ( 1993 ) 871 ) Forrest Gump ( 1994 ) 873 ) Four Weddings and a Funeral ( 1994 ) 874 ) The Lion King ( 1994 ) 878 ) Pulp Fiction ( 1994 ) 879 ) The Shawshank Redemption ( 1994 ) 887 ) Casino ( 1995 ) 890 ) Toy Story ( 1995 ) 892 ) Braveheart ( 1995 ) 908 ) Independence Day ( 1996 ) 917 ) L.A. Confidential ( 1997 ) 930 ) Titanic ( 1997 ) 933 ) Saving Private Ryan ( 1998 ) 944 ) There's Something About Mary ( 1998 ) 960 ) The Sixth Sense ( 1999 ) 966 ) Gladiator ( 2000 ) 971 ) Meet the Parents ( 2000 ) 974 ) Traffic ( 2000 ) 994 ) Gangs of New York ( 2002 ) 999 ) Far From Heaven ( 2002 ) 1001 ) Chicago ( 2002 )

I don't think I'll see them all before I die.

I liked that during the 2000 NLCS, Grote, watching from home in Texas, called the Mets to let them know that Will Clark was peeking at the signals Piazza was calling for the pitchers.

="Willets Point"]did the Mets just get rid of their core players wholesale that year or what? I signed on with the Mets in 1971, and just about all of my perennial favorites checked out in 1977 or 1978. (Seaver, Koosman, Harrelson, Grote, Matlack, Milner) It was a tough time to be a fan. But we ended up buying into the idea that the next generation of greatness was coming up soon thanks to Mazzilli, Henderson, Stearns, Zachry, etc. Didn't work out that way. I liked this UMDB memory from Kevin Mc: ]Kevin Mc Johnny Bench once said: If Jerry Grote played for the Reds, I'd be playing 3rd base I think I remember that quote, too. Until Howard Johnson came along with his 997, Grote was the Met who came closest to 1,000 hits without reaching that magic number. I wonder if he's even aware of that fact?