Benjamin Grimm

I'm reading "The Wrong Season" by Joel Oppenheimer. It's basically a memoir of a fan following the 1972 Mets season. I thought I'd share this paragraph. (Oppenheimer, like metsmarathon, writes entirely in lower case.) everybody at shea that day who was of the female persuasion was wearing the straw bonnets the management had given away, it being mother's day, despite the rain. i'm curious as to how well they held up but there have been no reports. these are the same bonnets about which bob murphy, shilling the game the other night before they knew they'd have willie to fill the place, had said: if mom likes to work in the yard or piddle in the garden... Oppenheimer says a couple of derisive things about Bob Murphy. In 1972 I guess he was still just a guy broadcasting Mets games, and third on the depth chart at that. Few then could have known what a beloved legend Murphy would become.

These are some of the things that can slow down a game. Some of them you can't really do anything about, but I listed them anyway: [list:enc6gl83]Pitcher not throwing the ball. Batter stepping out of the box. Visits to the mound by coaches. Visits to the mound by catcher or infielders. Commercial breaks between innings. Pitching changes -- waiting for the pitcher to come in from the bullpen. Pitching changes -- warmup pitches by the new pitcher. Intentional walks. Pitcher throwing to first base. Arguments with umpires. Instant replay challenge. Deciding whether or not to issue a replay challenge. Evaluation of injured players. Rain. Misbehaving fans.[/list:u:enc6gl83]

The Braves seem like the right team for an aging knuckleballer.

That pinch-hit three-run homer by Cespedes was pretty awesome. I remember he was listed as "unavailable" for that game. He stepped in, saw only one pitch, and hit a three-run homer. He was in the game for barely a moment. It was enough to make him the Schaefer Mets Bench Player of the Month for April.

Yesterday's thread, Round 1.1.7, is currently tied, as is 1.1.4 from a few days ago. Anyone who hasn't voted yet in either of these threads is invited to do so. I'll probably bump the 1.1.4 thread tomorrow. The voting for 1.1.4 ends on Sunday morning.

You're on to me! I am getting kickbacks, but it's nothing all that lucrative. Just some stale A.M. Crunchwraps left over from last year.

Yeah! I'm sick of the chaff!

I wonder how many people thought that those were the actual lottery numbers. I know it's not possible, because the number 20 couldn't be drawn twice, but I expect that anyone who would think that those were real numbers would be less likely to notice that.

Vote for the tabloid covers that you like the best. You may select up to three choices. Voting will run for seven days. DEEP SIX Newsday, April 20, 2016. METS IN A LANDSLIDE New York Daily News, April 20, 2016. WAIT 'TIL DADDY GETS HOME New York Daily News, April 20, 2016. POWERBALL New York Post, April 20, 2016. MIRACLE MET LIFE New York Daily News, April 24, 2016. POP STAR New York Daily News, April 25, 2016. WALKING TALL Newsday, April 26, 2016. NEIL DIAMOND New York Post, April 26, 2016. YO, I'M BACK! Newsday, April 27, 2016. THIGH AND MIGHTY New York Daily News, April 27, 2016. YO-MAN'S WORK New York Post, April 27, 2016. SKY WALKER New York Daily News, April 28, 2016.

Kevin Davidoff, in the Post, thinks that Walker may return to the Mets: I’m wondering whether his situation might be resolved by next Monday, the deadline to accept the qualifying offer. Remember, last offseason featured massive movement of second basemen. Most competing clubs have second base resolved. How many teams will be willing to sacrifice a draft pick to sign Walker, who will be coming off back surgery? I’m betting not many. I think Walker and the Mets, who really enjoyed each other, might be able to knock out a multi-year deal by Monday to save him what would be a high-risk free agency.

That's okay. This thread will be open for another week.

Thanks for noticing! This is the 74th thread in which that graphic was used, and you're the first to point that out!

The way things went last night, I would assume Nixon.

Did you submit your vote? I see a count of zero for HUM DINGERS.

Yeah, I don't give a shit about this this morning either, but life goes on, and we have to continue to engage in our normal day-to-day activities.

Vote for the tabloid covers that you like the best. You may select up to three choices. Voting will run for seven days. THAT'S COLD! New York Daily News, April 10, 2016. STEVIE BLUNDER Newsday, April 12, 2016. DOOR MATZ New York Post, April 12, 2016. DIRTY DOZEN Newsday, April 13, 2016. SYNNERS New York Post, April 13, 2016. Sellouts New York Daily News, April 15, 2016. SEE YA LAT-ER New York Daily News, April 16, 2016. HUM DINGERS! New York Post, April 16, 2016. Prayers for baby deGrom New York Daily News, April 17, 2016. MATZ BETTER New York Daily News, April 18, 2016. HAMMERS & THOR Newsday, April 19, 2016.

I'm thinking they sign Cespedes and Fowler, trade Bruce, then let Conforto and Granderson compete for playing time.

I find myself craving Dexter Fowler. Not to replace Cespedes, but to play alongside him. For the Mets, of course.

Centerfield wrote: *They're going to tender Lucas Duda. Not surprising. Centerfield wrote: *Even before the Familia incident, they were looking at getting bullpen help. They are not shopping in the top end of the market, so no Chapman, Jansen, etc. I've been kinda hoping for Jansen, but I also realize that paying $12 million for a reliever is a bad idea. I'm very curious to see what they do here. I remember how Antonio Bastardo looked like such a smart move last year. Centerfield wrote: *Seems to be resigned to our existing options at catcher. I expect that this will change. I would be surprised if they didn't add a veteran catcher and went into spring training with d'Arnaud as the starter and Plawecki as the backup. Centerfield wrote: *Most importantly, the dialogue around Cespedes is far more encouraging than last winter. I find that I'm optimistic that he'll return. I figure that Cespedes will get a four-year deal, maybe with a fifth option year. A week or so ago I posted that my estimate was four years, $100 million. I've since seen that number floated around, and I've also seen four years, $110 million. If he can be had for that, the Mets should definitely do it. Centerfield wrote: *Says he hopes Walker takes the QO and would be open to a long-term deal with him as well. My hunch has been that Walker will be elsewhere, but I could be wrong.

Vote for the tabloid covers that you like the best. You may select up to three choices. Voting will run for seven days. JACKPOT! Newsday, April 2, 2016. BRAT MAN! New York Daily News, April 2, 2016. BRING IT ON! Newsday, April 3, 2016. BLADDER UP! New York Daily News, April 3, 2016. IT'S GO TIME New York Post, April 3, 2016. ANOTHER WORLD New York Daily News, April 4, 2016. PEE U New York Post, April 4, 2016. ROYAL RUMBLE Newsday, April 5, 2016. SLEDGE HAMMER Newsday, April 6, 2016. WELL, LAT SUCKS! New York Daily News, April 9, 2016. LABOR PAINS New York Post, April 9, 2016.

So the Orioles announced a decision on Wieters but not Trumbo?

I kind of like the implication that, before a start, Matt Harvey psyches himself up by peeing on a urinal emblazoned with the logo of the team he's pitching against.

And as much as we love Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo right now, I think we may have had similar feelings this time last year about Logan Verrett.

Yes, spring training covers were included last year. One of them, the Post's N.Y. CITI, made it to the Final Four. Here's that cover, and a few others from spring 2015:

Vote for the tabloid covers that you like the best. You may select up to three choices. Voting will run for seven days. SHAKING OFF THE SIGN Newsday, March 5, 2016. JACOB deGRIPE New York Daily News, March 5, 2016. SILLY GOOSE Newsday, March 11, 2016. BREAK A LEG, RUBEN New York Post, March 16, 2016. MATT MYSTERY Newsday, March 29, 2016. OPENING KNIGHTMARE New York Daily News, March 29, 2016. KNIGHTMARE New York Post, March 29, 2016. KNIGHT'S ALL RIGHT Newsday, March 30, 2016. YA GOTTA RELIEVE! New York Daily News, March 30, 2016. YA GOTTA RELIEVE! New York Post, March 30, 2016. GO WITH THE FLOW New York Daily News, March 31, 2016. KICKING & STREAMING New York Post, March 31, 2016.