Benjamin Grimm

I'll do a pitching category after we finish the stolen bases. Mister Five is still waiting to be identified.

Outfielder. Played the vast majority of his 18-year career in the National League. Finished in the AL and stole his last base at the age of 39. Played in three World Series.

Nope, not Jose Cruz. Is there a story? Probably, but I don't know it. (At least, I don't know who the fool is.) USA Today had been carrying nice, accurate, text-only, box scores from SportsTicker on their web site. These box scores were easy for me to parse (via a magic spreadsheet) into the UMDB database tables. On July 1 they switched to HTML. I haven't taken the time to revise the magic spreadsheet. Parsing HTML is far more complicated. So the box scores, for now, stop at June 30. If anybody knows of a site that carries the SportsTicker box scores, I'd love to know about it. I looked myself, but couldn't find any. I even asked a contact at Sports Ticker and he didn't know of any other sites that carried them.

As we'll see, Glavine responded quite well, but that's not yet included in the tally. Meanwhile, Floyd's been hot again lately. The next time we see totals, will Wright still be on top of the season standings? Stay tuned. Monthly totals through September 16 (15 games): NameTotal1Matsui16.512Glavine13.873Martinez13.204Beltran12.785Reyes11.066Floyd10.827Seo9.968Wright8.729Diaz7.3810Benson6.8211Heilman6.0012Castro4.4313Jacobs4.3214Zambrano4.1215Trachsel3.5716Hernandez3.4417Piazza2.9518Anderson2.4919Mientkiewicz2.4020Takatsu1.3221Cairo0.9822Woodward0.8623Padilla0.7024Looper0.5725Hamulack0.3826Williams0.11Offerman0.11Season totals through September 16 (147 games): NameTotal1Wright126.432Floyd123.153Martinez117.934Reyes112.845Beltran99.106Glavine88.407Piazza73.778Benson65.569Zambrano65.1010Cameron61.0411Diaz47.7612Mientkiewicz44.9813Matsui43.7514Heilman40.2115Seo39.7416Castro36.4517Anderson30.6518Hernandez26.9819Looper26.4620Ishii26.2121Woodward21.1822Cairo21.0923Bell16.8824Koo13.5325Jacobs12.4226Padilla12.3227Trachsel9.2628Aybar8.5329DeJean7.3230Graves6.8931Offerman6.4032Ring5.7733Daubach4.7934Williams4.1335Heredia2.6136Santiago2.5937Valent2.1738Matthews1.5139Takatsu1.3240Hamulack0.3841DiFelice0.23

DING! 1. Lou Brock 97 2. Tim Raines 77 3. Vince Coleman 64 4. Joe Morgan 60 5. ________________ 55 6. Maury Wills 54 7. Omar Moreno 49 8. Barry Bonds 46 8. Brett Butler 46 10. Davey Lopes 45 11. Delino DeShields 44 12. Andy Van Slyke 41 13. Ryne Sandberg 39 14. Ozzie Smith 37 15. Juan Samuel 35 15. Lonnie Smith 35 16. Luis Castillo 34 18. Cesar Cedeno 33 18. Barry Larkin 33

Very good. We're still missing the Pirate in the 12th spot that I hinted at. The guy with 55 had 31 of them in the 1960's. 1. Lou Brock 97 2. Tim Raines 77 3. Vince Coleman 64 4. Joe Morgan 60 5. ________________ 55 6. Maury Wills 54 7. Omar Moreno 49 8. Barry Bonds 46 8. Brett Butler 46 10. Davey Lopes 45 11. Delino DeShields 44 12. _______________ 41 13. Ryne Sandberg 39 14. Ozzie Smith 37 15. Juan Samuel 35 15. Lonnie Smith 35 16. Luis Castillo 34 18. Cesar Cedeno 33 18. Barry Larkin 33

He's a near miss, with 31.

No. No. No. Keep thinking Pirates and you'll get the number 12 guy.

Young: no. Biggio: no. Larkin: yes. 1. Lou Brock 97 2. Tim Raines 77 3. Vince Coleman 64 4. Joe Morgan 60 5. ________________ 55 6. Maury Wills 54 7. Omar Moreno 49 8. Barry Bonds 46 8. Brett Butler 46 10. Davey Lopes 45 11. _______________ 44 12. _______________ 41 13. Ryne Sandberg 39 14. Ozzie Smith 37 15. Juan Samuel 35 15. Lonnie Smith 35 16. Luis Castillo 34 18. Cesar Cedeno 33 18. Barry Larkin 33 Three blanks remain. The most tantalizing one is the fifth spot. I doubt that I would have guessed it myself.

No to Bobby Bonds. 1. Lou Brock 97 2. Tim Raines 77 3. Vince Coleman 64 4. Joe Morgan 60 5. ________________ 55 6. Maury Wills 54 7. Omar Moreno 49 8. Barry Bonds 46 8. Brett Butler 46 10. Davey Lopes 45 11. _______________ 44 12. _______________ 41 13. Ryne Sandberg 39 14. Ozzie Smith 37 15. Juan Samuel 35 15. Lonnie Smith 35 16. Luis Castillo 34 18. Cesar Cedeno 33 18. _______________ 33

Lots of correct guesses so far: 1. Lou Brock 97 2. Tim Raines 77 3. Vince Coleman 64 4. Joe Morgan 60 5. ________________ 55 6. Maury Wills 54 7. Omar Moreno 49 8. Barry Bonds 46 8. Brett Butler 46 10. Davey Lopes 45 11. _______________ 44 12. _______________ 41 13. Ryne Sandberg 39 14. Ozzie Smith 37 15. Juan Samuel 35 15. Lonnie Smith 35 16. Luis Castillo 34 18. _______________ 33 18. _______________ 33 These guys, though, don't make the list: Willie McGee Andre Dawson Marquis Grissom Ron LeFlore Dernier Pendleton Gary Maddox Von Hayes Gene Richards

That's some slugging percentage that Kingman put up against the Mets in 1980. Let's take a look at stolen bases by opponents: 1. ________________ 97 2. ________________ 77 3. ________________ 64 4. ________________ 60 5. ________________ 55 6. ________________ 54 7. ________________ 49 8. ________________ 46 8. ________________ 46 10. _______________ 45 11. _______________ 44 12. _______________ 41 13. _______________ 39 14. _______________ 37 15. _______________ 35 15. _______________ 35 16. _______________ 34 18. _______________ 33 18. _______________ 33

Yep, Dick Allen. The Hall-of-Famers were already named. The one remaining guy was a non Cooperstowner. Do we want to play this game again with another category? I have all the standard batting and pitching categories available.

I first became a baseball fan in 1971, and he was a well-known active player that year.

Eddie or Gary? Not that it matters; it's not either of them.

1. Willie Stargell 60 2. Mike Schmidt 49 3. Willie McCovey 48 4. Hank Aaron 45 5. Willie Mays 39 6. Andre Dawson 36 7. Barry Bonds 35 8. Billy Williams 34 9. ________________ 33 9. Chipper Jones 33

1. Willie Stargell 60 2. Mike Schmidt 49 3. ________________ 48 4. Hank Aaron 45 5. ________________ 39 6. ________________ 36 7. ________________ 35 8. ________________ 34 9. ________________ 33 9. Chipper Jones 33 No Johnny Bench in the top ten.

Your suggestion has been on my to-do list for a while. I was waiting until I had ALL the box scores, going back to 1962, and that didn't happen until earlier this year. Unfortunately, I've been unable to keep up with the 2005 box scores thanks to some fool at USA Today. Anyway, through June 30, Chipper's 33 homers against the Mets puts him in a tie for 9th place. We can make this a guessing game. (Stats are through June 30, 2005.) Six of the eight guys ahead of Chipper are in the Hall of Fame, including the first five. 1. ________________ 60 2. ________________ 49 3. ________________ 48 4. ________________ 45 5. ________________ 39 6. ________________ 36 7. ________________ 35 8. ________________ 34 9. ________________ 33 9. Chipper Jones 33 11. Dale Murphy 32 12. Joe Torre 30 12. Tony Perez 30 14. Gary Sheffield 29 15. Andres Galarrago 28 15. Sammy Sosa 28 15. Pat Burrell 28 15. Jimmy Wynn 28 15. Lee May 28

Totals for September 14( 8 votes): NameTotal PointsAverage (Points Awarded)Matsui 27.51 3.44Beltran 26.34 3.29Zambrano 17.95 2.24Wright 2.78 0.35Padilla 1.88 0.24Heilman 1.32 0.17Diaz 0.69 0.09Floyd 0.60 0.08Benson 0.50 0.06Reyes 0.17 0.02Piazza 0.16 0.02 Totals for September 15 (8 votes): NameTotal PointsAverage (Points Awarded)Floyd 32.07 4.01Reyes 14.06 1.76Heilman 13.18 1.65Wright 9.67 1.21Takatsu 2.72 0.34Jacobs 2.46 0.31Seo 2.24 0.28Matsui 1.78 0.22Williams 0.89 0.11Beltran 0.35 0.04Castro 0.31 0.04Mientkiewicz 0.18 0.02Looper 0.09 0.01 Totals for September 16 (9 votes): NameTotal PointsAverage (Points Awarded)Martinez 52.70 5.86Jacobs 18.40 2.04Reyes 5.70 0.63Beltran 4.58 0.51Diaz 3.48 0.39Castro 3.10 0.34Wright 2.04 0.23

="ScarletKnight41"]Like perhaps the shoes he wore while pitching his no-hitter?Or maybe the shoes he wore when he dressed as Judy Garland at the Mets' Wizard of Oz party at the Diamond Club.

Edgy DC wrote:Permission to change?Granted.Could those have been Cincinnati shoes in Seaver's display case?

]So, it was off to Cooperstown, home of the hallowed. The Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. First thing I heard him say was, "Lindsay. Oh, boy, I loved Lindsay." So we together peaked into the case and... I don't want to seem like I'm nitpicking, but the spelling of the name "LINDSEY" is somewhat of a hot-button issue in my house.Mr. Nelson spelled his name with an -EY, not an -AY.It's Lindsay Wagner, but Lindsey Nelson.Otherwise, my reaction was similar to cooby's. Anybody who'd take all of those photos of a Mr. Met doll would make a fun dad.(By the way, you owe Value Village 2¢.)

Monthly totals through September 13 (12 games): NameTotal1Glavine13.872Matsui12.853Seo9.684Beltran8.945Reyes8.656Martinez7.347Wright6.938Diaz6.909Benson6.7610Floyd6.7311Heilman4.1812Castro4.0513Trachsel3.5714Hernandez3.4415Piazza2.9316Anderson2.4917Mientkiewicz2.3818Jacobs1.9719Zambrano1.8820Cairo0.98Takatsu0.9822Woodward0.8623Looper0.5624Padilla0.4625Hamulack0.3826Offerman0.11Season totals through September 13 (144 games): NameTotal1Wright124.642Floyd119.063Martinez112.074Reyes110.435Beltran95.266Glavine88.407Piazza73.758Benson65.509Zambrano62.8610Cameron61.0411Diaz47.2812Mientkiewicz44.9613Matsui40.0914Seo39.4615Heilman38.3916Castro36.0717Anderson30.6518Hernandez26.9819Looper26.4520Ishii26.2121Woodward21.1822Cairo21.0923Bell16.8824Koo13.5325Padilla12.0826Jacobs10.0727Trachsel9.2628Aybar8.5329DeJean7.3230Graves6.8931Offerman6.4032Ring5.7733Daubach4.7934Williams4.0235Heredia2.6136Santiago2.5937Valent2.1738Matthews1.5139Takatsu0.9840Hamulack0.3841DiFelice0.23

CPF mini-contest: What should be the title of Self's autobiography? Winner receives dinner for one at the Crane Pool Cafe.

771 Mets. Wow. We started the 2005 season at 747. That means there have already been 23 new Mets this year, which is probably quite a bit more than usual. (I once figured out how many new Mets there were each season. The thread may survive on ezBoard. The season with the fewest new Mets was 1988, in which only three players debuted. Mackey Sasser was one of them. Offhand I can't recall the other two.)