Benjamin Grimm

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I seem to recall something about Willie Mays being asked to give Barry Bonds permission to wear number 24 for the Giants. I don't know if it never happened, or if the permission was asked and refused, or granted but declined. Either way, Bonds wore 25 as a Giant where he was 24 for most of his time as a Pirate.

The options are: 1. Assign number 5 immediately after David Wright was done with it. 2. Retire number 5 immediately after David Wright was done with it. 3. Allow for some time for his legacy to settle in and then schedule a retirement ceremony at a mutually convenient time. Just because it's inevitable (and I'm pretty sure it is) there's no need to hurry it.

Oops. Fixed. Thanks.

http://leaptoad.com/mets/scrapbook.php?tabno=D&release=5Forty-three Obituaries Released August 31, 2023 Obituaries for 43 Mets players, coaches, etc., including John Stearns, Tim McCarver, Joe Pignatano, Pedro Feliciano, and more. Here's the full list: Larry Bearnarth, Jerry Buchek, Chuck Carr, Gene Clines, Tommy Davis, Pedro Feliciano, Tony Fernandez, Larry Foss, Jim Frey, Bob Friend, Jesse Gonder, Joe Grzenda, Tommy Holmes, Jeff Innis, Cookie Lavagetto, Phil Linz, Tim McCarver, Jeff McKnight, Herb Moford, Harold W. O'Shaughnessy, Brock Pemberton, Joe Pignatano, Grover Powell, Hal Reniff, Arthur Richman, Les Rohr, Red Ruffing, Ray Sadecki, Dick Selma, Norm Sherry, Dick Sisler, Denny Sommers, Tracy Stallard, Eddie Stanky, Leroy Stanton, John Stearns, Dick Stuart, Ralph Terry, Claudell Washington, George Weiss, Carl Willey, Gene Woodling, and Don Zimmer.

I completed the Mets column today: Twins (Tim Teufel), Pirates (Jon Niese) and Rays (Lucas Duda). I got Rick Aguilera for Cubs/Twins and Travis d'Arnaud for Rays/Braves. I then tried to play the LaTroy Hawkins card for Rays/Cubs and failed, so I gave up. What's interesting here is I think I was the first one to play the game today! When I entered Jon Niese for Mets/Pirates, the number in the corner was 100%. I then refreshed the page and it went down to 50%. Refreshed again, 33%. Once more, 25%. Now it's down to a much more reasonable 0.8%.

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What uniform number would you give him? I'd say... 3.

I hadn't heard about that, but it makes sense. Maybe 120 (or three quarters of games played) would be reasonable?

In 2022, the only Met who pitched enough innings to qualify for the ERA title was Chris Bassitt. There was only one in 2021: Marcus Stroman. In 2020, it was only Jacob deGrom. This year, only Kodai Senga has a reasonable chance. If this trend continues, there may come a season where nobody in the league qualifies. I'm certainly expecting a year when no Met qualifies. It may even be this year.

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I got my first eight guesses correct, but couldn't come up with an Oriole/Giant. I considered Casey Stengel, but went with Mike Cuellar. Both would have been wrong. Orioles/Reds: Milt Pappas 3% Orioles/Giants: -- Orioles/.300: George Sisler 19% Astros/Reds: Joe Morgan 45% Astros/Giants: JD Davis 4% Astros/.300: Jose Altuve 95% Padres/Reds: Randy Myers 3% Padres/Giants: Kevin Mitchell 5% Padres/.300 Tony Gwynn 96%

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The three most used relievers are currently around 50 G and 50 IP each, so they're on track for the numbers you mentioned above. But do they really track warmups/ not used numbers? I hadn't seen those anywhere. They're not "official stats" but they're probably tracked internally by the coaching staff.

Throwing guys against a wall will likely lead to season-ending injuries.

I got burned by Ted Williams yet again; he didn't have 3,000 hits. I then went with Wade Boggs, who did qualify, but I was already out of the running for my Immaculate Grid.

Anthony DiComo wrote: The Mets' announcement that they plan to retire the numbers of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry in separate ceremonies next summer came with the customary follow-up: What's next? Back in 2020, when the Mets announced that they would retire Jerry Koosman's No. 36, I wrote this piece outlining which other numbers the team might consider setting aside. At this point, everyone on the list has either already had the honor or will have it soon, with the exceptions of David Wright and Gary Carter. First, it's worth addressing Carter, who was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 2001. Although no one can deny Carter's impact as a player and leader on the 1980s teams, he spent just five years with the franchise and appeared in merely 600 games. That's a notably lighter body of work than Strawberry or Keith Hernandez, who also spent less than half their careers in Queens. As such, it would not be surprising to see the Mets pass over Carter for the organization's highest honor. That leaves Wright, who retired after the 2018 season and is not yet in the Mets Hall of Fame. Since 2021, the Mets have held Hall of Fame ceremonies and number retirements in alternate years, making 2025 a likely Hall induction summer. Might the Mets put Wright and others into the team Hall of Fame at that time, as a prelude to an eventual Wright number retirement? Or would they break recent tradition and hold both ceremonies for Wright on a single day? Those answers should become clearer over the next year or so. It's obvious that Wright will have his No. 5 retired at Citi Field eventually. The only question is when. Beyond that, the Mets are probably done retiring numbers for the time being. Next up is anyone's guess. Jacob deGrom complicated his candidacy by moving to Texas, and others, such as Francisco Lindor, are a long way from such considerations, with plenty of work left ahead of them.

See? It would be an improvement!

I failed badly today. For the Tigers Gold Glove, I started with Chet Lemon and then tried Ron LeFlore. My third guess was correct, Lou Whitaker. Then, for the A's Cy Young, I started with Dave Stewart, who was wrong, before pivoting to Vida Blue who was correct. But I was quickly three guesses in the hole and ended with only five of nine.

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Did something happen to Wheeler?

Silent movie actress Lillian Gish.

My eighth Immaculate Grid! I just missed one yesterday because Ted Williams never had 200 hits in a season. Rarity score of 62: Giants/White Sox: George Foster 0.2% Giants/Mariners: Gaylord Perry 6% Giants/20 wins: Christy Mathewson 19% Mets/White Sox: Cleon Jones 0.2% Mets/Mariners: Steve Henderson 0.3% Mets/20 wins: David Cone 6% Yankees/White Sox: Robin Ventura 3% Yankees/Mariners: Alex Rodriguez 14% Yankees/20 wins: Ron Guidry 14%

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