Benjamin Grimm

Ouch! I'm not saying that "baseball is dying" (This is his argument, isn't it? I have to say I rarely do more than skim his posts.) but football has certainly surpassed baseball in popularity. If there is a national passtime, it's probably eating in front of the television, but if that category is limited to professional sports, it's got to be football. The Super Bowl continues to be a major event, and the World Series isn't nearly what it once was.

I do stand for the National Anthem, because that's traditional and wasn't grafted on afterwards to prove we can sing louder than the terrorists. No, it was grafted on afterwards to prove that we can sing louder than Nazis: Musical Traditions in Sports

dgwphotography wrote: Ray Charles' version of America the Beautiful should trump both "God Bless America" and The National Anthem... Absolutely.

Ceetar wrote: Ceetar wrote: I think you could argue Take Me Out to the Ballgame is patriotic too. It's a song about where a girl wants her beau to take her on a date. to watch America's national pastime. I never knew that song was about football.

Batista 1.7 Beato 0.4 Byrdak 0.6 Evans 3 Igarashi 0.2 Isringhausen 0.5 Pagan 1 Reyes 1 Stinson 0.6 Turner 1

Voting for all four games played over the Labor Day weekend will close on Thursday morning. Schaefer POTG 9/2/11 - Mets 7, Nationals 3 Schaefer POTG 9/3/11 - Nationals 8, Mets 7 Schaefer PotG, 9/4/2011, Mets 6, Nationals 3 Schaefer POTG 9/5/11 - Marlins 9, Mets 3

Justin Turner netted 0 points, so he is not listed among the results.

I'm down with that, but I think if it were up to the people (as it should be) then God Bless America would beat America the Beautiful. But America the Beautiful would probably get my vote. Especially if it was sung by Ray Charles.

Ceetar wrote: (4) and I need to be more optimistic. Um... no.

DocTee wrote: I like it. It should be our national anthem, in my opinion. No more religious, in my mind, than the Pledge of Allegiance or our currency. I agree. The song resides in the hearts of the people more than the Star Spangled Banner does. When Congress gathered on the Capitol steps after September 11, they didn't sing the actual anthem, they sang God Bless America. If the national anthem is supposed to reflect the spirit of the people, then God Bless America fits the bill. And I'm saying this as a committed atheist. If you don't believe in Yahweh (and I don't) then look at the God in the song as an allegorical God. I'm not the least bit offended by it. Singing about "land that I love" and "my home sweet home" is much better than ramparts and gleaming and stuff like that.

This is kind of nutty: Daniel Murphy, who hasn't played in about a month, still leads the team in games played this season. This isn't likely to last: Murphy has 109, and there are a few players just behind him: Murphy, Daniel 109 Bay, Jason 108 Pagan, Angel 107 Reyes, Jose 105 Harris, Willie 105 Turner, Justin 101

Voting for last Thursday's game against the Marlins at Citi Field will close on Wednesday morning. Schaefer PotG, 9/1/2011, Mets 7, Marlins 5

Bay 1.5 Evans 0.5 Pagan 1.5 Wright 1

Acosta 2 Bay 2 Evans 2 Herrera 0.5 Pagan 2 Turner 1 Wright 0.5

Dickey 2 Duda 1.5 Evans 1 Pagan 1.5 Stinson 1 Wright 3

Bay 0.5 Duda 1 Harris 2.5 Isringhausen 0.5 Nickeas 0.5 Pagan 0.5 Parnell 0.5 Satin 0.5 Stinson 1.5 Tejada 1.5 Wright 0.5

Uh oh... Braun went 3 for 3 today. Up to .335.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Short Mets Tall Mets Big Mets Small Mets

SCHAEFER METS PLAYER AND PITCHERS OF THE MONTH, AUGUST 2011 The Schaefer Mets Player of the Month for August 2011 is first-time winner LUCAS DUDA. Lucas led the Mets in August with 5 home runs, 20 runs batted in. He batted .319, had an OBP of .382 and slugged .527. Duda and third-place finisher David Wright were the only Mets to play in all 26 August games. Although he finished a distant second, 7.76 points behind Duda, Angel Pagan had a strong month. He finished a fairly distant second in the Schaefer voting but led the team in stolen bases with 8 and "triple slashed" .318/.342/.477. Ruben Tejada racked up a good number of Schaefer points in August despite only playing in 20 games. He batted .348 and had an OBP of .423. The Schaefer Mets Pitcher of the Month for August is fourth-time winner R. A. DICKEY, with his second consecutive win. In August this year, Dickey was 1-2 with a team-best 2.70 ERA over 33.1 innings and five starts. On August 31, in the final game of the month, Chris Capuano had a chance to steal the award away from Dickey, but his score of 1.17 was 2.55 points shy of what he needed. Capuano was 1-2 in August with a 4.06 ERA, but his point total benefited from the complete game shutout against Atlanta on August 26. And the Schaefer Mets Relief Pitcher of the Month is a first-time winner, MANNY ACOSTA. Manny was 2-1 in August, with a 1.32 ERA in 14 games and 13.2 innings. Updated award winner standings, with most recent winners in bold: PLAYER OF THE MONTH David Wright 10 Johan Santana 6 Carlos Beltran 5 Jose Reyes 5 Cliff Floyd 2 Tom Glavine 2 Carlos Delgado 2 Ike Davis 2 Mike Cameron 1 John Maine 1 Angel Pagan 1 Jeff Francoeur 1 R. A. Dickey 1 Daniel Murphy 1 LUCAS DUDA 1 PITCHER OF THE MONTH Johan Santana 9 Pedro Martinez 6 John Maine 5 Mike Pelfrey 4 R. A. DICKEY 4 Tom Glavine 3 Orlando Hernandez 2 Alay Soler 1 Steve Trachsel 1 Oliver Perez 1 Livan Hernandez 1 Tim Redding 1 Dillon Gee 1 Jonathon Niese 1 Chris Capuano 1 RELIEVER OF THE MONTH Brian Stokes 5 Francisco Rodriguez 3 Raul Valdes 2 Pedro Beato 2 Billy Wagner 1 Aaron Heilman 1 Duaner Sanchez 1 Scott Schoeneweis 1 Pedro Feliciano 1 Sean Green 1 Fernando Nieve 1 Hisanori Takahashi 1 Elmer Dessens 1 Jason Isringhausen 1 MANNY ACOSTA 1

Voting for Wednesday night's win over the Marlins will close over the Labor Day weekend, perhaps as early as Saturday morning. This will close out the month of August. Schaefer POTG 8/31/11 - Mets 3, Marlins 2

Acosta 0.5 Batista 3 Beato 0.5 Duda 2 Tejada 2 Wright 2

Short Mets Tall Mets Big Mets Small Mets

Associated Press wrote: Mets C Thole leaves game NEW YORK -- Mets catcher Josh Thole has left their game against the Florida Marlins in the second inning after being hit in the left hand by a foul ball. Thole was hit when Emilio Bonifacio fouled a 2-0 pitch back. Thole stayed in his crouch until a Mets trainer and manager Terry Collins went out to check on him. He fell to his knees after trying to squeeze the trainer's hand Thursday night. Mike Nickeas replaced Thole.