Benjamin Grimm

I don't know what went wrong with this archive page, but it was G-Fafif who suggested the Houston Tralfazes back in 2012: Houston Bees?

I kind of wish they had changed the team's name with the move to the American League. There was talk that they were considering it. (Someone here on this forum brilliantly suggested the "Tralfazzes".) I think it wouldn't be so strange to see the "Houston Mosquitoes" as an American League team as it is seeing the Astros in the other league. This thing with the Astros is even stranger than the earlier move by the Brewers, because at least Milwaukee has a past history as a National League city.

I remember disliking the uniform number on the pants even more than I did the rainbow stripes, which is saying quite a lot. I think, however, a uniform I hated even more than that was the more recent Rockies vests with the flared shoulders. They're not still wearing those, are they?

Well, we're still Young Moles. Or Youngish Moles.

no longer wear the rainbow uniforms I'd put that in the "pro" column. I guess there's more reasons to root for Houston than for the Dodgers, but I don't feel a strong preference either way. I'd be okay with the Dodgers winning.

Edgy MD wrote: Where do we pull the bus over and let the I'm-not-a-racist racist Mets fans off? Sadly, racism is in vogue these days. It's like pumpkin spice. It's everywhere.

I think the idea that you can't hire experienced coaches because the manager might be threatened is a losing proposition. If they hired, for example, Dave Righetti as the pitching coach and Dusty Baker as the bench coach, I'd be totally fine with that.

I voted for Cora, but I'm quite pleased with Mickey. I hope he doubles Terry's tenure and manages the Mets for 14 years. Or more. (Of course, depending on how things go, I may change my mind about that long before 14 years have elapsed.)

the pitching coach is most interesting because you wonder how much Callaway will have his toe in. Yes, I was thinking that too. Also from the same Cleveland.com article, where they discuss internal candidates, there's this guy: Jason Bere: He just finished his third year as the Tribe's bullpen coach. He spent nine years before that working in the team's front office, focusing on instructing and evaluating pitchers in the farm system. Bere pitched 11 seasons in the big leagues, going 71-65 with a 5.14 ERA. He appeared in 211 games, 203 as a starter. If Bere and Mickey have a good working relationship, I suppose he might be considered for the Mets job.

Now that the Mets have a manager, they need a bench coach, a pitching coach, and, perhaps, a hitting instructor. For bench coach, I'd choose someone with experience as a manager, as well as recent experience in a National League dugout. There are probably quite a few guys out there who meet that criteria. The first name that comes to mind is Dusty Baker. There's also Larry Bowa, Terry Collins, the guy who was just fired in Philadelphia, and, I'm sure, many more. As for the pitching coach, I have no idea. The Indians also have a vacancy for that role, and I found this article on Cleveland.com that evaluates possible candidates. Any candidate for the Indians job is potentially a candidate for the Mets job. Anyway, this list can be a starting point. Who will replace Mickey Callaway? Cleveland Indians start search for new pitching coach Monday Kirk Champion: He was a finalist for the job that went to Callaway before the 2013 season. He was Francona's pitching coach at Class AA Birmingham in the White Sox organization. Champion is the White Sox's director of minor league instruction. John Farrell: Farrell was just fired as Boston's manager after five seasons. He led the Red Sox to the World Series title in 2013 and three AL East titles. He has a long history with Francona and the Indians, the organization that drafted him in 1984 and brought him to the big leagues. Farrell was Francona's pitching coach in Boston from 2007 through 2010. Before joining Francona, he was the Indians' farm director from 2001 through 2006. Farrell went 36-46 with a 4.56 ERA in an eight-year big-league career. There is a chance Farrell could also join the Cubs. Theo Epstein, their top baseball man, hired him as Francona's pitching coach in Boston. Farrell might need some time away from the game to regroup or he could seek another manager's job. Jim Hickey: After 11 years with the Tampa Bay Rays, Hickey was relieved of his duties after the 2017 season. Hickey was one of the most successful pitching coaches in the big leagues during his tenure with the Rays. There is a good possibility he could rejoin former Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon as the Cubs new pitching coach. Chris Bosio: The Cubs fired Bosio after they were eliminated in this year's NLCS by the Dodgers. There reportedly was a rift between him and Maddon. Bosio has been credited with helping develop several pitchers on the Cubs that helped them beat the Indians in the 2017 World Series. Bosio pitched 11 years in the big leagues, going 94-93 with a 3.96 ERA. Dave Righetti: The Giants let Righetti go after 18 years as their pitching coach. He helped develop the pitching staff that won World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014. During his tenure in San Francisco, his pitchers threw five no-hitters and Tim Lincecum won two Cy Young awards. Righetti pitched 16 years in the big leagues. He went 82-79 with a 3.46 ERA and 252 saves. Mike Maddux: When the Nationals fired manager Dusty Baker after they failed to advance past the NLDS earlier this month they fired his entire staff as well. Maddux has a good reputation and is used to working with high-profile starters such as Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg in Washington and Yu Darvish in Texas. Maddux, the brother of Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, pitched 15 years in the big leagues.

Geez... 42 years old. He's the first Mets manager to be younger than me, and he's younger than me by twelve years! Also the first Mets manager who is younger than the franchise itself.

Even though I had never heard of this guy, like, three days ago, I'm pleased with this hire. The buzz is that he's smart, and that's a trait that I want. I like that he's young. And he also seems personally likeable. [youtube:dgerdbom]pnhgSoQz2vs[/youtube:dgerdbom] I also liked his answer to the question posed to him at around the 6th minute of this video. Nothing earth-shaking, but it shows some of his thought process, I think in a good way.

In that second YouTube video that I posted above, he reveals that he was named after Mickey Mantle and his brother was named after Casey Stengel.

Get to know Mickey Callaway: [youtube:1sgh5l05]emzJS7J-0PA[/youtube:1sgh5l05] [youtube:1sgh5l05]pnhgSoQz2vs[/youtube:1sgh5l05]

Who's the leader of the club That used to play at Shea? M-I-C K-E-Y C-A-ALLO-WAY!

Maybe Mickey Spillane? This is an interesting development, if true. I've been spending the last few days getting my head around the idea of Kevin Long as Mets manager. The Phillies also have been interested in Callaway.

They're not going to make their manager announcement at a time that would compete with the Yankees playing Game 7 of the ALCS. That's a battle that the Mets would definitely lose.

Has Zvon disappeared again? And did he take Metfairy with him?

Jon Heyman says: The Mets will pick up the $6.5 million option on reliever Jerry Blevins, which has been expected. They still seem to be weighing whether to do the same with Asdrubal Cabrera’s $8.5 million option (as opposed to the $2 million buyout), but considering concerns about David Wright and whether he’ll be able to play third base (Cabrera was more than adequate in his absence), it is believed that it’s more likely than not they will pick that one up, too (but it isn’t quite a given).

RealityChuck wrote: Reports are that Acta "lit up the room" in his interview. Uh-oh....... I have to give him credit for being prepared. He must have heard that the Mets conduct their interviews in dimly lit rooms, so he brought along a flashlight.

In recent years, the Bench Coach seems to be the one occupying the "heartbeat seat" but that's not really official, of course.

Yeah, Callaway is kind of interesting. He's also in the mix for the Phillies.

I voted for Cora, even though it seems he's bound for Boston.

Joel Sherman wrote: The Mets were described by sources as near the goal line on making a decision on who will replace Terry Collins, with the internal belief that they want to finalize a deal this weekend and announce before the World Series begins Tuesday. If this is accurate, we'll have our answer in a few days.

We hear it when players arrive too. I assume they don't say this kind of stuff in Phoenix or Cincinnati.