Benjamin Grimm

Like "folks", "supper" isn't in my working vocabulary.

Yeah, I too used to think that way. Then again, I used to believe a lot of things that I no longer do, but that's another story. I used to root for the National League in the All-Star Game. I used to root for the National League in every World Series. And I even used to root for the NL East in every LCS. (I think that stopped for me in 1984.) Now, as Edgy says, none of it matters anymore.

I used to always root for the National League team, but it's been a long time. I first went AL in 1995, and I rooted AL again in 1997, 2002, and 2004. League pride? What's that? Am I supposed to be proud if the San Diego Padres can beat the Chicago White Sox?

Is that a hologram? I thought Reyes was carrying a large magnifying glass in his back pocket. (You never know when one of those will come in handy.)

Who said anything about a POTM for two games? Totals for October 1 (10 votes): NameTotal PointsAverage (Points Awarded)Seo 37.77 3.78Wright 26.95 2.70Padilla 14.27 1.43R.Hernandez 9.78 0.98Reyes 3.78 0.38Floyd 3.45 0.35Anderson 1.34 0.13A.Hernandez 1.20 0.12Offerman 1.00 0.10Castro 0.26 0.03 Totals for October 2 (12 votes): NameTotal PointsAverage (Points Awarded)Jacobs 35.58 2.97Diaz 20.66 1.72Floyd 19.22 1.60Takatsu 12.88 1.07Piazza 8.00 0.67A.Hernandez 4.96 0.41DeFelice 4.06 0.34Zambrano 4.00 0.33Beltran 3.71 0.31Reyes 2.54 0.21Offerman 2.30 0.19Williams 1.09 0.09

Here it is, for posterity, and also for those too lazy to click the link: 'Right price' may keep Piazza here Wallace Matthews October 4, 2005 Just when you thought you had said your last goodbyes to Mike Piazza . . . it might be time to say hello again. Sunday was Mike Piazza Appreciation Day at Shea Stadium, a chance for the fans to say goodbye to the player who did more in the pre-Pedro Era than any other player to alter the perception and performance of New York's other baseball team during the last 10 years. And say goodbye they did, before, during and after the game, to the point that it was getting, well, a little embarrassing for everyone concerned. By the time Piazza mercifully was pulled from the game after the seventh inning, he had been given the baseball equivalent of a 21-gun salute. Hopefully, Piazza did not allow the clubhouse door to hit him on the way out, because the Mets might ask him to walk back through it again. Yesterday, general manager Omar Minaya said, "I'm not closing the door on Mike Piazza." He didn't just say it once, or twice, or three times. How about seven times within a short conversation on the future of the Mets' catching position? Clearly, the door is open for Piazza's return to Shea -- under the proper conditions, of course. "It all depends on the price," Minaya said. "And it all depends on where Mike is at. I'm gonna sit down with Mike soon and find out what he wants to do." Minaya addressed other Mets needs such as strengthening the bullpen, finding a closer to replace Braden Looper (Billy Wagner? Kyle Farnsworth? The Marlins' Todd Jones?), adding a bat or two to the lineup and somehow coaxing the kind of production out of Carlos Beltran that was expected of him in the first season of his seven-year, $119-million deal. "We expected more out of Bel.tran, yes," Minaya said. "He was hurt early, and then he started pressing and just kept on pressing, I think. He is low-key. You'd like to have a little bit more energy and I think that in this town, you gotta be careful with that, you can't be too low-key." Intriguing stuff, but none of that is really news. The possibility that Piazza might want to take back his farewell speech for one more year certainly is. "I don't believe in closing doors," Minaya said. Conventional wisdom says Piazza, 37 years old and with a right arm best used for waving bye-bye to opposing baserunners, is headed to the American League, where he conceivably still can command healthy dollars as a designated hitter. But conventional wisdom often is sadly mistaken. "Mike may not want to go to the American League, you know?" Minaya said. "At the right price, I think we could find a spot for him here." What the "right price" is has yet to be determined, but obviously, it would be nowhere close to the $91 million, seven-year deal he just completed. "I wouldn't rule anything out," Jeff Borris, Piazza's agent said. And yet, the Mets might be willing to spend some serious money to lure Piazza back for another year or two. At some point, they have to move on, but apparently, they haven't reached that point yet. Although he got the last important hit of their season, a three-run homer in the eighth inning against the Phillies on Aug. 30 that left the Mets a mere game out of the NL wild-card spot, the Mets don't seem to consider Ramon Castro a long-term option behind the plate. In fact, among the only available free-agent catchers out there is the Padres' Ramon Hernandez, a 29-year-old who hit .290 with 12 homers and 58 RBIs and missed 63 games with a knee injury. And Hernandez wouldn't come dirt cheap, he made $4.3 million in 2005 and will expect a big raise. The downside, of course, is that bringing back Piazza risks spoiling a rare baseball story that seems to have come to a happy ending even without a world championship. As it stands, Piazza was leaving while we still liked him and he still liked us. "Mike's been great for this franchise and great for this town," Minaya said. As the man said repeatedly, he's not closing the door on the possibility of bringing back a guy like that.

Valadius wrote: Now that we've finished this season, and will have some time on our hands come winter, maybe we ought to go through the All-Time Mets Rankings all over again and Schaefer-ize them. I'm not sure what that means. If you're thinking we should do POTG voting on every game from 1962 through 2004, then count me out!

Nah. I thought of it, but September is September. Maybe next year the Mets will play a bunch of October games, and we can have an October winner, too.

I won't update the season totals just yet; instead I'll wait for the last two games to be tallied. Tom Glavine does indeed become the first pitcher to win the Schaefer Mets Player of the Month award. (Previous winners: April, Cliff Floyd; May, Mike Cameron; June, Cliff Floyd; July, David Wright; August, Jose Reyes.) We've traditionally had a sub-category Schaefer Mets Pitcher of the Month. Glavine, obviously, wins that as well. The Schaefer Mets Non-Pitcher of the Month, if such a thing should exist, would be Carlos Beltran. Carlos' only Schaefer award for 2005 is a rather dubious one. Previous pitchers of the month have always been either Pedro Martinez or Tom Glavine. Final totals for September (28 games): NameTotal1Glavine30.512Beltran21.343Floyd20.254Wright19.765Reyes17.656Matsui16.517Jacobs16.028Martinez15.959Benson15.6910Heilman14.1511Seo13.0512Piazza11.9113Trachsel8.6914Diaz8.6815Anderson8.5016R.Hernandez7.3117Castro6.8618Padilla6.7919Cairo6.5020Zambrano5.6521Mientkiewicz2.4022Takatsu1.3323Ishii1.1924Woodward0.8825Graves0.7726Looper0.5727Hamulack0.4728Offerman0.11Williams0.1130A.Hernandez0.01

That's a good point. A World Championship on the South Side would cause so much angst for the fans on the North Side. I've always gotten a perverse pleasure out of the Cubs drought, one I never got from that of the Red Sox. I enjoyed the Leon Durham grounder and the Steve Bartman foul ball. I voted mild for Boston, but I'd be cool with the White Sox. However, if it comes to White Sox-Angels in the ALCS, I'll have trouble rooting against the team that beat the Yankees.

Here's how everybody voted. Our consensus seems to be that Floyd is most likely to stay, and Mientkiewicz (remember him?) most likely to leave. The Points column all the way to the right are our current scores, with everybody still here. As players leave, the listing will be updated.In the unlikely event that everyone does stay, Namor and Annie will be our winners, tied at 74 points.And yes, I do have another magic spreadsheet going here. I've also figured out that the only way I can win this meaningless little competition is if Cameron, Floyd, and Trachsel stay, and everyone else goes.CameronFloydGlavineLooperMatsuiMientkiewiczMilledgePiazzaSeoTrachselPointsmetirish101010680486870Frayed Knot 699341826654Edgy DC 793650834550Yancy Street Gang 887440636753Johnny Dickshot 51053201054650Vic Sage 577831913650rpackrat588341102775586 Dreamer 110105101027349Rotblatt01010100000101050Nymr8391010100375101074SwitchHitter101010862668874ScarletKnight41576625927756metsmarathon783320101010861Iubitul5933241098760DocTee494821867655seawolf170777303071044TheOldMole697745931859Average5.478.827.005.883.061.357.473.946.537.18

I think I recognized 6 of them: 1. Darryl Strawberry 1990 8. Tom Seaver 1983 15. John Stearns 1985 20. Jerry Koosman 1978 22. Joel Youngblood 1977 28. Armando Benitez 2003

Anyone but the Yankees. But that could change. If an AL team knocks the Yankees out of the playoffs, they might temporarily win my heart.

I'm surprised. I thought that as a non-Braves hater, that I was in the minority. My vote, by the way, is "mild for Astros."

I have a feeling I know how this one will go.

Boston or Chicago?

Astros-Braves: who are you rooting for?

What's your rooting interest in the Cardinals-Padres series?

Final totals will be announced on Wednesday.

Totals for September 28 (7 votes): NameTotal PointsAverage (Points Awarded)Anderson 24.88 3.55Wright 14.73 2.10Floyd 11.33 1.62Cairo 10.87 1.55Graves 4.16 0.59Beltran 3.00 0.43Castro 0.03 0.00 Totals for September 29 (11 votes): NameTotal PointsAverage (Points Awarded)Glavine 63.16 5.74Wright 19.66 1.79Jacobs 12.31 1.12Piazza 11.34 1.03Cairo 1.27 0.12Reyes 1.20 0.11Anderson 0.50 0.05Floyd 0.50 0.05Woodward 0.06 0.01 Totals for September 30 (8 votes): NameTotal PointsAverage (Points Awarded)Benson 34.60 4.33Anderson 15.55 1.94Jacobs 14.25 1.78Heilman 13.50 1.69Wright 0.80 0.10Reyes 0.80 0.10Floyd 0.25 0.03Beltran 0.25 0.03

I guess the correct answer turned out to be a combination of C and D.The Mets started September with a 4-13 stretch. Had they merely gone 8-9 over those 17 games they'd still be very much alive.

Most likely. But Beltran can still put up three 6's.

Monthly leaders through September 27 (25 games): Glavine has wrapped up Pitcher of the Month, and is leading contender for the overall prize. Beltran is his main competition, but Floyd and Reyes and Wright are also in the mix. NameTotal1Glavine24.772Beltran20.883Floyd18.554Reyes17.445Matsui16.516Martinez15.957Wright15.778Jacobs13.129Seo13.0510Heilman12.4611Benson11.3612Piazza10.8813Trachsel8.6914Diaz8.6815R.Hernandez7.3116Castro6.8617Padilla6.7918Zambrano5.6519Cairo4.8320Anderson2.9621Mientkiewicz2.4022Takatsu1.3323Ishii1.1924Woodward0.8725Looper0.5726Hamulack0.4727Graves0.1828Offerman0.11Williams0.1130A.Hernandez0.01Season totals through September 27 (157 games): With only five games remaining in the season, a surge by David Wright allows him to regain a lead over Floyd. Reyes is likely to wrap up third place. Pedro is looking good to finish fourth. NameTotal1Wright133.482Floyd130.883Martinez120.684Reyes119.225Beltran107.206Glavine99.307Piazza81.708Benson70.109Zambrano66.6310Cameron61.0411Diaz49.0612Heilman46.6713Mientkiewicz44.9814Matsui43.7515Seo42.8316Castro38.8817Anderson31.1218R.Hernandez30.8519Ishii27.4020Looper26.4621Cairo24.9422Jacobs21.2223Woodward21.1924Padilla18.4125Bell16.8826Trachsel14.3827Koo13.5328Aybar8.5329DeJean7.3230Graves7.0731Offerman6.4032Ring5.7733Daubach4.7934Williams4.1335Heredia2.6136Santiago2.5937Valent2.1738Matthews1.5139Takatsu1.3340Hamulack0.4741DiFelice0.2342A.Hernandez0.01