Benjamin Grimm

I agree. It's FAR from a sure thing that Rodriguez has another 163 home runs in him. Especially since he's at the age when the breakdown can come at any time. I wonder how many players have hit 163 or more home runs after their 35th birthday.

What about Pat Misch? After the season, I think non-tendering Francoeur is a no-brainer. (At least, I hope it is!) Pelfrey should be made to fight for a job next spring. Perez has to be disposed of, either by trade or release, unless he really turns it around in the next two months. Rotation for next year: Santana, Niese, Dickey, and two open spots. They'll have to have a chat with Beltran about a corner outfield position. Also, if there's a team willing to trade for him, the Mets should certainly listen. Castillo, will be in the fourth year of his deal, so his contract will be considered more edible. Second base should be one of the prime spots for the Mets to look to upgrade over the winter. I'll stick with Bay, hoping that this year was an anomaly. With his track record, he deserves that much. Also, he's not tradeable or releasable at this point, so there's little choice.

Edgy DC wrote: Who are we talking about here? I think that happened recently with Francoeur. He had a good day and then was rewarded with another start. Anyway, one thing that Casey Stengel was free of was worrying a lot about contracts. He would have had a much easier time benching Jason Bay than Jerry would. And as for Pelfrey, I think he's burned up all the equity he earned with that 10-1 start. He's been brutal for what, six weeks now? He probably should have been pulled from the rotation a while back, before the Mets position in the standings had become so grim. Didn't Davey once do something like that with Sid Fernandez?

Totals for August 2, 2010 (8 votes) Atlanta Braves 4, New York Mets 1 NameTotal PointsPoints AwardedPlayer PerformanceCarlos Beltran13.531.691-2, 2B, RBI, 2 BB, SOJohan Santana11.831.48(L) 7.0 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 11 SO.Bobby Parnell5.040.631.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO.Jos� Reyes4.000.501-5, R, SOChris Carter1.600.201-1Angel Pagan1.500.191-5, SO, SBLuis Castillo0.500.061-3, SOHenry Blanco0.500.061-3Ike Davis0.500.061-3, BB

Is Rodriguez really going to play until he's 50? I'm hoping he breaks down in the next year or two.

Voting for Tuesday night's win in Atlanta will close on Friday afternoon. If you still have votes to cast, try to get them in today, or tomorrow morning. Schaefer POTG 8/3/10 - Mets 3, Braves 2

Are there any plans to start testing owners for steroids?

He'll probably also be fired at the end of the season. Few heads would roll as efficiently as Mr. Met's.

Castillo 1.5 Reyes 1.2 Thole 1

You have to wait until you get to 11,000 posts. We had a rule that it had to be a non-player, but I don't know if that's still in effect.

Chipper's been pretty solid against the Mets until very recently. That stretch from 1996 through 2001 was particularly deadly, though.

I wonder, is he combining Milwaukee and Atlanta? Mets vs. the Braves

Gwreck wrote: The Mets would have to non-tender Maine, allow him to become a free agent, assume no one else signs him, and then re-sign him to a minor league deal in May (?) of 2011. Hmmm... you have me wondering. Is that May 1 thing applicable to non-tenders? Or just for guys who have the six or more years of service?

Thank you! I don't prepare them that far in advance, though. Just a few days, when I get a sense of who the winners might be. Sometimes I end up with cards that go unused. Last year there was a 1972 Luis Castillo and a 1971 Daniel Murphy. (Yes, Castillo came very close to being a Player of the Month. I forget which month. Murphy's near miss was in September, when he finished behind Jeff Francoeur.) This year I have three such cards. I hope to get to use them all this season, but there's one that's very unlikely. Even if they remain un-Schaefered, I'll eventually reveal them.

He really likes to revel in the hate, doesn't he?

Indianapolis?

I also agree that it has its flaws. But to Johnny's point, this exercise is for fun, not for science. We're extending the Lindsey-Ralph-Bob tradition.

Checking out the 500-club for the first time in a long while: - 25 members now. When I first learned it there were four Four? That surprises me. I guess you're more than a couple of years older than me. I just looked it up, and the fifth player to hit his 500th home run was Willie Mays, on 09/13/1965. (The first four were Ruth, Foxx, Ott, and Williams.) By the time that I first started paying attention, in 1971, the list was up to nine, with the additions of Mantle, Mathews, Aaron, and Banks. During the 1971 season, Frank Robinson and Harmon Killebrew hit their 500ths, but I have no memory of being aware of it.

MFS62 wrote: Which Met has the most World Series hits? Gotta be somebody from the 69-73 teams; they played 12 World Series games. So I'll guess Cleon Jones.

Voting for Monday night's loss in Atlanta will close some time on Thursday. Please get any outstanding votes in today. Schaefer POTG 8/2/10 - Braves 4, Mets 1

Totals for August 1, 2010 (9 votes) Arizona Diamondbacks 14, New York Mets 1 NameTotal PointsPoints AwardedPlayer PerformanceAngel Pagan7.300.811-3, R, BBIke Davis5.230.581-3, RBICarlos Beltran3.630.401-1Alex Cora2.400.271-3, 2B, SOJesus Feliciano1.640.181-4Luis Castillo1.090.120-1Jos� Reyes0.400.040-3Chris Carter0.050.010-2

SCHAEFER METS PLAYERS OF THE MONTH, JULY 2010 The Schaefer Mets Player of the Month and Pitcher of the Month for July 2010 is R. A. DICKEY. This is R.A.'s first Player of the Month win and his second Pitcher of the Month win. (He was also June's winner this season.) Dickey had a team best 1.51 ERA over 6 starts and 41.2 innings. His won-lost record was a deceptively bad 1-3. Dickey was trailed by Johan Santana, who had a chance to win the Player and Pitcher awards, needing only to earn 1.24 points in his final start of the month; but he instead earned a zero for that July 28 start. Santana nonetheless had an outstanding month, going 3-0 with a 2.06 ERA in 6 starts and 43.2 innings. Santana tied Hisanori Takahashi for the team lead in strikeouts with 28. (Jon Niese, 2-2, 2.48, had 27 strikeouts.) A special tip of the cap to July's leading offensive player, ANGEL PAGAN, who finished slightly more than 3 points behind R. A. Dickey. Pagan led the Mets with a .337 batting average, a .594 slugging percentage, and a .402 OBP. He led the team in runs (15), hits (34), doubles (7), stolen bases (9), and total bases (60). His 2 triples tied him with Alex Cora for the team lead, and his 5 home runs trailed only Ike Davis, who had 6. And the Schaefer Mets Relief Pitcher of the Month is a second-time winner, RAUL VALDES. Valdes narrowly beat Bobby Parnell, who only needed to net 0.08 points on July 31, but he ended up giving up 3 runs without retiring any batters. (Perhaps these Schaefer awards are putting too much pressure on the Mets players.) Valdes' victory shows how quirky Schaefer can be with relief pitchers. His 4.26 ERA was higher than those of Parnell, Francisco Rodriguez, and Elmer Dessens, and he appeared in fewer games than those players. Valdes' ERA was inflated in his last appearance of the month, on July 30, when he gave up 4 earned runs in 0 innings. But prior to that, he racked up the Schaefer points with 10 consecutive scoreless innings over 6 games from July 19 through July 28. (That included games in which he pitched 2, 2.2, and 3 innings.) Month-to-date totals for July 2010 Through game of July 31, 2010 RankNamePoints1R. A. Dickey24.302Johan Santana23.073Angel Pagan21.224Ike Davis17.525David Wright17.326Jon Niese17.137Hisanori Takahashi10.408Jason Bay9.999Jos� Reyes7.7610Josh Thole7.2511Raul Valdes5.9612Bobby Parnell5.8913Carlos Beltran5.8614Alex Cora5.6815Francisco Rodriguez4.4416Elmer Dessens4.0417Jeff Francoeur3.8718Rod Barajas3.2019Fernando Nieve2.4320Pedro Feliciano2.4021Manny Acosta2.2222Jesus Feliciano2.2023Luis Castillo2.1524Mike Pelfrey1.8325Mike Hessman1.4926Ruben Tejada1.3727Henry Blanco0.9028Chris Carter0.6029Oliver Perez0.4930Justin Turner0.4731Ryota Igarashi0.1532Fernando Tatis0.03

I do remember Ernie Banks as an active player, but not Eddie Mathews.

The Schaefer Mets Player of the Week for the week ending July 31 is R. A. Dickey, with 9.15 points.

Totals for July 31, 2010 (9 votes) New York Mets 5, Arizona Diamondbacks 4 NameTotal PointsPoints AwardedPlayer PerformanceHisanori Takahashi24.092.686.0 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 SO.David Wright20.522.282-4, 2B, 3 RBI, BBAngel Pagan14.051.563-4, 2 R, 2B, BB, SOJesus Feliciano8.530.951-2, R, 3BFrancisco Rodriguez5.830.65(W) 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO.Carlos Beltran5.650.630-3, RBI, BBManny Acosta5.400.601.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO.Jos� Reyes3.260.361-4, R, RBI, BBPedro Feliciano1.920.210.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO.Luis Castillo0.250.030-3, R, BB