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MLB.com headline for a slow day: Matz departure stirs memories of Jones for long time Mets fans

My guess for the leftmost Cub is Don Kessinger. A chunk of my early baseball headspace was given over to resentment of Don Kessinger getting the attention due Bud Harrelson, an inequity resolved by 1971.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: While I acknowledge Rickey's incredible credentials, the loyalty of my inner eight-year-old goes to Cleon Jones. https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/71/71-527Fr.jpg> Indeed. When I see a gathering like this... ...my instinct is to think of it as Cleon Jones and others.

Edgy MD wrote: I could be wrong, but I think Yogi was the only Mets manager who saw actual combat. Bronze Star-winner Gil Hodges saw his share. In April 1945, Hodges landed with the assault echelon at Okinawa and was assigned to his battalion's operations and intelligence section as asistant to Colonel Merchant. Just getting ashore at Okinawa was an experience in itself, as Hodges explained in a letter to his family: “We arrived here [Okinawa] the first of April and things really cut loose. We were always having air attacks and the ships were really knocking down the planes. It's just like being tied down when you're on board a ship because you can't do a thing but just stand there and wait for something to happen. One Jap plane, a Zero, came circling around where we were anchored and when everyone saw it they really cut loose. I don't see how it was possible for him to escape with so much firing being done at that time. He was the plane that really gave all of us a scare. He started to pull away from the firing and then he got hit and started circling around, then into a suicide dive. He started coming down and boy he was really moving. He crashed on the bow of another LST not very far from our ship and exploded. I don't know how many got hurt but I'm sure there were quite a few. Well, that's just one incident and I don't want to go into any other at the present time because I could probably sit here and write all day and still not be through.” https://www.baseballsgreatestsacrifice.com/decorated/hodges-gil.htmlhttps://www.baseballsgreatestsacrifice.com/decorated/hodges-gil.html

Ty Kelly on what it's like when a superstar joins your team: He gets two lockers to himself, that's a certainty. But, what about the clubhouse dynamic? Will he mess with the team chemistry? Will he be able to learn a new handshake with every player on the team? Will he be too outspoken? Too soft-spoken? Too…medium-spoken? Will he show up and ask for more than two lockers? More than three bowls of porridge? The first year of Robinson Canó's 10 year, $240 million deal with the Seattle Mariners came in 2014, coinciding with my first full season in the Mariners organization, as well as my first Major League Spring Training invite. I was starstruck — for obvious reasons — but so was everyone else. As a rule, Major League Baseball players don't ogle or show excessive admiration for any other MLB players — due to deep-seated toxic masculinity and inferiority complexes — except when it comes to superstars. When you start getting into “top 25 player in the league” category or “future Hall of Famer,” the adulation begins to pour in. Everyone wants to know what he's all about: what makes him tick, what he eats, how he dresses, whether he uses a loofa, whether he was friends with a guy on his former team who I am currently friends with. Also, baseball stuff. Some guys are probably so starstruck that they discretely snap an iPhone 5 photo of King Felix in the locker room and still have it on my phone to this day. Still have it on their phone to this day. It's still on my phone. I spoke to Cano twice that Spring Training. The first instance came at second base shortly after we took ground balls one day. Grounders arrived, we fielded them, we tossed them into a pile on the ground. An empty bucket was run out by a coach so the balls could find a way back to the fungo hitter to be peppered at us again. The optimal way to fill said bucket with said baseballs is to put the bucket about 10 feet away and shoot every ball toward it, a la Shaq from the free-throw line. As a former high school basketball “standout” and perennially overzealous competitor (again: toxic masculinity), I took the opportunity to sink many more shots than Robbie and let him know I was unimpressed by his game. “Do they not play basketball in the Dominican?” I asked, feeling far too confident in myself. “No, they do.” And that was pretty much it. The second time we talked was in the batting cage before the day's scheduled workouts began. He mimicked my swing. “This is you,” he told me. I knew; it was a passable impression but I was extremely flattered. He was watching me, and I assume he took a picture of me in the clubhouse also. Every interaction with a superstar on your team is meaningful. Canó was open at the time about not wanting to act as a coach to the younger players on the team and in the organization: he just wanted to be a player and worry about living up to his huge deal. But when you're larger than life, you're influential whether you like it or not. Guys watch the way you go about your business: for the rest of my career, I never placed a ball in a bucket. But, when you have as sweet a jumper as I do, you don't have to. Also some quiet awe for The Captain within. https://themetropolitan.substack.com/p/welcome-ty-kellyhttps://themetropolitan.substack.com/p/welcome-ty-kelly

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Huh! I wonder... How many Brooklyn Dodgers are left? Boston Braves? Philadelphia Athletics? St. Louis Browns? 14 Brooklyn Dodgers 1 Boston Brave 5 Philadelphia Athletics 6 St. Louis Browns https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Category:Listshttps://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Category:Lists

Ron Samford, 90, infielder on the 1954 world champion Giants. With his passing, only 12 New York Giants remain among us..

Mike Sadek, 74, the Giants' version of Ron Hodges — their backup catcher for nearly a decade. Worked in the SF organization for a long time thereafter. https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2021/01/21/mike-sadek-former-giants-catcher-dies-at-74-after-illness/https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2021/01/21/mike-sadek-former-giants-catcher-dies-at-74-after-illness/

Before we get all misty, the Dick Smith who passed away was not the Dick Smith who played for the early Mets. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/smithdi01.shtmlhttps://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/smithdi01.shtml But, RIP. Later The Mets' Dick Smith died in 2012, though because no obituary appeared, the baseball community didn't learn of his passing until 2015.

The Mets trusted him quite a lot based on a slight track record, giving him a postseason rotation slot over Colon and Niese. He didn't suck at the time. I attended his one shutout, vs Pittsburgh in 2019. Felt really good for him. Always liked him as a person; really wanted him traded.

He was from Long Island, I'm pretty sure.

Brodie the agent-turned-GM is now an agent again. The former general manager of the Mets joined Roc Nation Sports as chief operating officer and head of strategy and business development on Wednesday, shifting back to the agency side of the business following his two-year run with the Mets. “I've always been a player advocate,” Van Wagenen told MLB.com. “I was as the GM of the Mets, and will continue to be. Even with the Mets, I was pretty public about it being players first; celebrating players, giving them a chance to succeed and then rewarding them when they do.” Van Wagenen cited his decision to put Pete Alonso on the Opening Day roster in 2019 without concern for how that would affect his service time. “Player advocacy is in my heart,” Van Wagenen said. https://www.mlb.com/news/brodie-van-wagenen-named-coo-of-roc-nation-sportshttps://www.mlb.com/news/brodie-van-wagenen-named-coo-of-roc-nation-sports Meanwhile, from the land of GMs who long ago let Darren O'Day for not even a bag of balls...

Darren O'Day reportedly signs with the MFYs, automatically becomes loathsome.

Zack Scott takes up acting. FLUSHING, N.Y., January 27, 2021 — The New York Mets today announced that Zack Scott will serve as the acting General Manager beginning immediately. Scott joined the organization as the club's Senior Vice President/Assistant General Manager on December 23, 2020. “Zack has plenty of championship experience to draw upon,” said Mets President Sandy Alderson. “He has been an integral part of our decision-making processes since his arrival. The entire baseball operations staff, including myself, will continue to work collaboratively.” Scott, 43, has spent the last 17 years in the Boston Red Sox organization. He spent the last two years as Assistant General Manager where he oversaw the club's analytics, baseball systems and advance and professional scouting departments. Scott was heavily involved in the analytics and systems departments that provided decision support to Boston's leadership team in all areas of the operation. Prior to his promotion, he was the Vice President, Baseball Research and Development and worked five years as the Director, Major League Operations for the Red Sox. In that role, he assisted senior baseball leadership in several aspects including major league roster construction, payroll management, player acquisition, contract analysis and coordinated the department's statistical analysis. Scott joined the Red Sox in 2004 as an intern, served as an assistant the following year and worked as the Assistant Director, Baseball Operations for six seasons. Scott worked at Diamond Mind, Inc., a developer of baseball simulation software, from 2000–2003. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1999 with a B.S. in Mathematics. https://newyorkmets.medium.com/zack-scott-named-acting-general-manager-581ea65864d2https://newyorkmets.medium.com/zack-scott-named-acting-general-manager-581ea65864d2

The Buffalo will be a Tiger (one year, $2 million, or less than a tenth of a year of Realmuto). Not agile behind the plate, but when in a groove, he was a force at bat. I'll always appreciate what he added to the stretch almost-drive of 2019. Long hitting streak was impressive considering his position and his speed. Everybody experienced the difficulties of baseball played under 2020 conditions, but the separation from family seemed to affect Ramos particularly hard. Hope he and Ramirez are a highly charged Motown battery.

This is Schilling's tantrum, which he posted to Facebook: I want to share with everyone the letter I wrote to the folks at the Hall of Fame yesterday. They've been otherworldly kind and gracious in every way possible and I'll be forever grateful to them and for that. This was written privately and for their eyes only but I have always been fine with anyone knowing how I feel and what I think. “Hey guys. Couple things. First off I am not sure I can express my level of gratitude and sincere appreciation at the graciousness, kindness and desire on all your parts to help me navigate this process. I can say at this point I am mentally done. I know math and I know trends and I know I will not attain the 75% threshold for induction. As I've stated often over the past years to those I've spoken with in my heart I am at peace. Nothing, zero, none of the claims being made by any of the writers hold merit. In my 22 years playing professional baseball in the most culturally diverse locker rooms in sports I've never said or acted in any capacity other than being a good teammate. I've certainly been exposed to racism and sexism and homophobia as it's part of who human beings are. I've played with and talked with gay teammates. I've played with wife beaters, adulterers, assaulted, drug addicts and alcoholics. I've never hit a woman, driven drunk, done drugs, PEDs or otherwise, assaulted anyone or committed any sort of crime. But I'm now somehow in a conversation with two men who cheated, and instead of being accountable they chose to destroy others lives to protect their lie. I will always have one thing they will forever chase. A legacy. Whatever mine is as a player it will be the truth, and one I earned for better or worse. Having said all that the media has created a Curt Schilling that does not and has never existed. It's one of the things that has allowed me to sleep at night. Not an ounce of that is to absolve myself of sin, Lord knows I've committed my share and will do so again. Never malicious, never to willfully or intentionally hurt another person. I was 100% accountable and still am. Even the thought of responding to claims of “nazi” or “racist” or any other term so watered down and rendered meaningless by spineless cowards who have never met me makes me ill. In modern times responding to such drivel somehow validates the claim. My love of this country has always been worn on my sleeve. My desire to do the right thing and be a good person has driven most of my life choices. I stood at my locker 400+ times after my starts and took every question and answered honestly. Those people who stood there asking the questions KNOW what they are claiming is untrue yet they quote, re-quote and link to one another story after story that began as lies and grew into bigger ones. The game has made it clear it does not want me back and that's fine, the game owes me exactly nothing. It gave a billion more times than it took and I'll forever be deeply in debt to it. My desire to work with and teach young men the art of pitching will be tucked away. But as I watch my wife battle cancer and go through the grueling soul crushing process of chemotherapy and see her hurt every time some idiot writes another hit piece linking to other hit pieces, none rooted in any sort of truth but rather story after story of “what he meant was” and “what he's saying is” and “that's a dog whistle for” all the while providing zero actual acts or quotes of the claims being made I can't help but to go into deep conversation with my father. “Never live your life trying to impress people you don't know, or who don't know you” and what that means in todays world. Being an aspie has allowed it to flow like water off a ducks back. But to see the hurt I'm causing my wife and to have my children read and hear this stuff and then look at me and try and match a public “image” that in no way aligns with the man their father is , has been something I never considered. I do not and never will “scoreboard” the cowards but if I'm not mistaken only Jamie Moyer and I “swept” the humanitarian awards players can win. Awards meant to define who the true man is apart from the player. These same writers voted on those awards. Do those awards and 22 years absent of a single validating event to support their claims define me? Or does a “what he meant to say” tweet? Based on the vote and the pike of dung authored by morally decrepit men like Dan Shaughnessy it's the latter. I cannot and will not say or do anything to possibly soften a weak willed mans opinion of me if it is not something I believe. Just or not. I've chosen Arizona as the team I would have represented if I had been inducted and even though I heard someone there is calling for the DBacks front office to “meet” should the induction happen I'll stand with that decision as I know Mr Kendrick to be an honorable and kind man. Should that change it most certainly would be the Phillies. What Mr Henry and Mr Werner did to my family and I in my final year has been forgiven but will never be forgotten. One thing this text certifies is that I talk way too much but I know I was never a yes/no answer guy. I apologize for the insane length of this but I guess I needed an outlet and I sure as hell don't want to dump any of this on a woman who just ended her 3rd chemo and provides the reasons I eat sleep and breathe everyday. Why the text? If by some miracle this would happen I have zero interest in taking questions from the very group who lined up to destroy my character with no regard to anyone in my life or being held to account for their lies. I would and will talk with the guys on the MLB network if you want that, but no one else. I wanted to reiterate this final point. I will not participate in the final year of voting. I am requesting to be removed from the ballot. I'll defer to the veterans committee and men whose opinions actually matter and who are in a position to actually judge a player. I don't think I'm a hall of famer as I've often stated but if former players think I am then I'll accept that with honor. Again, I won't be able to thank you for your kindness and sincere interest in this process as it pertains to me. I'll be forever grateful. God Bless you all again and one more time a final thank you for all your efforts to help my family and I.

Larry Walker, Ted Simmons and, if they choose to participate, the heirs of Marvin Miller will elbow in on Jeterfest ‘21. Fuck Schilling. Good.

https://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/laura-albanese/jared-porter-mets-gm-1.50129093Laura Albanese in Newsday: Back before COVID, the conversations would take place in baseball stadium cafeterias in between bites of limp salads. Or they'd happen on the sidelines — two women, two sportswriters, speaking low and slow as we watched batting practice. On the road, the stories about inappropriate behavior would occasionally roll out at dinner, punctuated by a sigh or sip of wine. "Do you know what he did?" "Watch out for that guy." "He wouldn't leave me alone." This would happen at least a few times a year. Sometimes we would be talking about a player, sometimes a team employee and sometimes a fellow reporter. It was always about a man. And afterward, we would all go back to work, some of the women wondering if this job was worth all the sidestepping, the avoidance, the hiding, and more than a few deciding it wasn't. I've had a few more conversations with my female colleagues since the news of now-former Mets general manager Jared Porter's actions were made public Monday. They have been punctuated by anger, fatigue and the sort of unsurprised resignation common to people who have seen the same dispiriting play acted out too many times. Situations like these are not unique to baseball, but this week's events have put a microscope on the sport. Five years ago, Porter sent sexually explicit text messages to a female reporter, at one point sending 62 straight unanswered texts, according to an ESPN report. The story included damning details: The woman was a reporter from a foreign country who was afraid of reprisal in her home country, where blaming women for the faults of their tormentors was cruelly common. She did not speak English well. Porter was a source, meaning she couldn't easily block him. She was vulnerable and had to ask a player for help. I cannot imagine how humiliated she felt. https://theathletic.com/2332861/2021/01/19/ghiroli-be-nice-female-reporters/?source=user_shared_articleBrittany Ghiroli in The Athletic: I was 26 years old. I wasn't new anymore, but in my third year on the beat, I was still getting beaten to news by the other reporters most of the time. I couldn't believe I was going to get a scoop. On the eve of the biggest game for the Orioles in 15 years! We agreed to meet in the player's room, at his request, so others with the team wouldn't see us together in the lobby. It made sense — you have to protect your sources. There was no news. I walked in to candles lit and Drake playing. My stomach lurched as he came at me, trying to kiss me. I pushed him away and blurted out the only thing I could think of: What on earth would give him the idea that I was into him? I'll never forget the answer: “Because you were nice to me.” That line rang in my ears as I raced down the hotel stairs, praying I wouldn't run into anyone from the team. It caught in my throat as I called and cried to my best friend. It's what I think of every time I hear another source-gone-wrong story and — believe me — we all have stories. It's why things like former Mets general manager Jared Porter's despicable behavior toward a female reporter invoke rage, frustration and sadness all over the industry. What it doesn't invoke is surprise. Every woman has a story, most of us have multiple stories, and all any of us truly want is to not stand out and constantly discuss how hard it is to be in this space. Being a reporter is all about cultivating relationships and protecting sources. It is ultra-competitive and the power structure is simple: No one with information is required to help you. Ruin a source relationship and you only hurt yourself as they move on to someone else. As a reporter, you learn to accept slights, be personable and engage everyone. In 2021, that's mostly texting. And when it crosses the line it's easy to feel like there's only one option: ignoring it. I didn't tell anyone but my best friend about that night in Texas. Instead, I showed up to work the next day, plastered a smile on my face and prayed the player didn't hate me because I needed him, and the rest of his teammates, not to. How messed up is that? Welcome to being a female reporter. If you're too nice, you are asking for trouble. If you aren't nice enough, you're a bitch. The line is invisible and exhausting and I keep thinking about what one front office member told me my first year. “You want to be hot enough so guys want to talk to you, but not so hot that people think you are f—ing them.” https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-jared-porter-sexual-harassment-20210119-r556mbcwrvfadjypc7otbnkc3a-story.htmlDeesha Thosar in the Daily News: A large part of this job is a guessing game, particularly for women on a baseball beat, within an industry that is dependent on private texts and messages to gain information and, down the line, have a successful career. Working in a male-dominated industry has many layers, many of which are degrading, and it's immediately obvious how singularly unique some of these experiences are. As the only woman on the New York Mets beat, no other person is regularly around to understand the complex heartaches involved in being checked out or harassed when I'm just trying to do my job. In my fifth year working in baseball, I've lost count of how many sexist comments have been made directly to me while working. Many unacceptable situations that I would, at first, confront head-on as a fresh college graduate have begun to blend together and remain suppressed in fear of repercussions that could adversely impact my career. It can be a lonely place. It's not simply the Mets beat, of course. This is a universal experience for women working in sports media. I can see where diversifying one's references might not have been a priority pre-Porter. I can't see how it won't be now.

Phillies re-sign their catcher: 5 years, $115.5 million.

May Michael Baron recover and live long and well (same for his mother), but I don't think he's actually been covering the Mets for those outlets for several years. I thought it was telling that the most pointed question Sandy Alderson received post-Jared Porter was from somebody who doesn't regularly cover the Mets -- Hannah Keyser of Yahoo Sports, who asked whether the Mets' due diligence extended to any women. Similarly, in the Lindor-Carrasco announcement Zoom, it was Bradford William Davis, a columnist for the News, who asked Alderson for his thoughts on what happened in the Capitol the day before, which seemed big enough to transcend even a major Mets trade (just having that session that day felt a little like asking Allie Sherman about what defensive scheme the Giants might use against the Cardinals tomorrow, November 24, 1963). It was also telling, to me, that the followup to that question, from Ed Coleman, was something about depth at third base.

Some big-time long relief, including the rare three-inning save in the even rarer series opener in Buffalo.

Rico Brogna himself! It's not unusual to find minor-league managers with big-league playing experience or a background in scouting. It is much rarer to find one with a master's degree in cybersecurity, experience as a player-information coach on a major-league staff or as a college football coach. The A's newest minor-league manager — incoming Low-A Stockton Ports skipper Rico Brogna — has all that in his background, and a lot more. Fans of baseball in the 1990s likely remember Brogna as a smooth-fielding first baseman who had a pair of 100+ RBI seasons with the late-‘90s Phillies. A first-round pick of the Tigers in 1988 out of high school, Brogna spent parts of nine seasons in the major leagues, mostly with the Phillies and Mets. But his post-playing career has taken a more unusual path. Since retiring as a player in 2001, Brogna has earned two degrees — an undergraduate degree in business from Post University and a master's degree in cybersecurity from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University — while holding jobs in baseball ranging from pro scout to minor-league coach and manager to special assistant to the general manager to farm director to player-information coach, among other titles. A three-sport star in high school who turned down a football scholarship to Clemson to play baseball, Brogna has also coached high school basketball and football, and even spent two seasons as a volunteer wide receivers coach at Wesleyan University, where he worked alongside disciples of Bill Belichick. Read more about the Athletic minor league manager at the Athletic. https://theathletic.com/2341426/2021/01/25/rico-brogna-set-to-skipper-the-stockton-ports-through-uncharted-waters-in-2021/https://theathletic.com/2341426/2021/01/25/rico-brogna-set-to-skipper-the-stockton-ports-through-uncharted-waters-in-2021/

Jay Horwitz welcomes Lee Mazzilli into his pod den. https://art19.com/shows/amazin-mets-alumni-podcasthttps://art19.com/shows/amazin-mets-alumni-podcast