G-Fafif

Gsellman to the IL with a fractured rib. Drew Smith is back. Jeremy Accardo wears No. 59 rather than two dashes, per the roster accompanying game notes sent to media distribution list.

T-U-E-S-D-A-Y SUCK!

Cubs have claimed the speedster. Looked good in an orange hoodie, not so good getting thrown out stealing's third.

1110. Erasmo Ramirez

Just somebody literally brought back to baseball by Tom Seaver, that's all. In May, Ms. Gustines received a birthday card. “Dear Elena, we miss you! Please come back to the baseball family. The game really needs you and so do the Mets! Your friend, Tom Seaver.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/07/insider/the-friendship-of-elena-and-tom.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/07/insider/the-friendship-of-elena-and-tom.html

Dom In Action is lit! Hopefully I'm using that expression correctly.

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/cardinals-legend-lou-brock-dies-sunday-afternoon-at-81/article_1fb0067d-7526-5d8c-b92d-4896a9b91e6b.htmlhttps://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/cardinals-legend-lou-brock-dies-sunday-afternoon-at-81/article_1fb0067d-7526-5d8c-b92d-4896a9b91e6b.html

Tough week for legends. Before there was Rickey, this man was the stolen base personified.

Doc on Tom: https://thechangeup.substack.com/p/dwight-gooden-remembers-tom-seaverhttps://thechangeup.substack.com/p/dwight-gooden-remembers-tom-seaver Gary Phillips: I know this is a big loss for the Mets family. What did Tom Seaver mean to you and how did your relationship with him evolve over the years? Dwight Gooden: Tom was like a mentor. Him and Nolan Ryan were my two childhood idols... I watched a lot of their games with my dad and I remember being in the backyard pretending to be either Nolan Ryan or Tom Seaver playing against my nephew, Gary Sheffield. We grew up in the same house. We used to pitch against each other, and we would argue who's going to be Tom Seaver that particular day, who was going to be Nolan Ryan. When I got to meet Tom, we had great conversations. We loved talking about pitching, sequences, how we set hitters up... What are you doing when there's no season or it's not spring training to make yourself better? We talked a lot about family, health, things that matter... He was just a great guy all around. Everyone knew he was a great baseball pitcher, but to me, he was an even better person. He was always in a good mood, always ready to talk baseball, always upbeat. GP: You said in your statement to the Mets that Seaver was one of the first people to call you after you won your Cy Young award in 1985. What do you remember about that phone call? DG: He just congratulated me and said, "Welcome to the club." He said, "Make sure when the league comes after you... just be prepared. Don't try to top the season you had. Just try to duplicate the season you had and you'll be fine." He was just always, always upbeat and a genuine guy. GP: Seaver played his last game for the Mets the year before your rookie season, so you guys never got to be teammates at the big league level. Did your paths ever cross when you were a Mets minor leaguer? DG: I came to New York a little bit in 1983 for an exhibition game where we played the Padres' A-ball club and, before one of the games, we talked. We always talked about what it would have been like to play together. For me, that would have been an absolute dream come true. As a kid, he was my idol. Just the knowledge he had. He always kidded, "With the knowledge I have and the talent you have, we put that together, man who knows where it can get you!" But we always had a lot of good talks. He tried to make a comeback [in 1987]... It didn't go too well and he ended up retiring. I remember in 1986 he was on the Red Sox during the World Series, but it didn't seem right. It just felt like he was supposed to be in our dugout. GP: That first time meeting him in '83, at that point he's already a World Series champion, he's “The Franchise,” he's established as this great Mets player. And you're this up and coming pitcher with high hopes. What was that moment like for young Dwight Gooden? DG: For me it was surreal… I told him, "Man, it's a pleasure to meet you." It was like being a little kid talking to your idol. I couldn't believe it. He said, "I'd like to see you up here real soon" and be teammates. That was always the goal. He said, "keep working hard, don't take no starts for granted and you'll be fine." I was listening to him talk and I was in awe. I couldn't wait to get back to my hotel to call my friends and tell them, "You're not going believe it! I had a conversation with Tom Seaver!" All my friends knew how much I loved him.

Read all about when Ron Hodges and Tom Seaver went out to eat a pigeon. Franklin County grad and ex-Mets catcher Ron Hodges mourns Tom Seaver https://roanoke.com/sports/professional/franklin-county-grad-and-ex-mets-catcher-ron-hodges-mourns-tom-seaver/article_b15f46bb-5fd6-5609-abdd-6dcb00173204.htmlhttps://roanoke.com/sports/professional/franklin-county-grad-and-ex-mets-catcher-ron-hodges-mourns-tom-seaver/article_b15f46bb-5fd6-5609-abdd-6dcb00173204.html That's a great get. Thanks for posting.

The Payano Man has been released.

Every Bruce Stark illustration in the series needs to be revived as a t-shirt of a card or something for the 50th anniversary of 1973.

Ol' No. 21 Todd Frazier is Ol' No. 21 again with the departure of Billy Hamilton.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Though knowing the Mets they'd do this beforehand and accidentally put the patch on in their online merchandise store Show your Tom spirit! Available from $19.44 to $20.20

Games like this, it occurs to me that if I didn't know who was on the Mets, I wouldn't know who was on the Mets.

The Cubs released AJ Ramos. The Rockies picked him up.

A little something specific to loving Tom Seaver http://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2020/09/04/my-seminal-seaver-summer-of-71/when you're eight years old.

Erasmo Ramirez, outfitted in 43, is joining the band. A corresponding move will balance his presence. AND...Billy Hamilton has been picked off the roster, DFA'd.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: What's particularly interesting is that today happens to be Newsday's 80th birthday, and they have a turn-back-the-clock-style cover. http://leaptoad.com/mets/covers/2020/20200903_NSD_01.jpg> My search for this edition of Newsday proved fruitless (and wet). I didn't realize that these days on LI the late-ish edition was home-delivery only. The newsstand version's front page went with the breaking story that this coming school year will be a school year like no other.

Real Mets fan issues non-boilerplate statement.

1105 Billy Hamilton 1106 Ali Sanchez 1107 Ariel Jurado 1108 Miguel Castro 1109 Robinson Chirinos

Each Met rubbed dirt on his right knee today. Prior to the game they tipped their caps up toward 41.

From The Athletic: The Franchise: Tom Seaver, a baseball artist and a Mets icon, dies at 75 Excerpt: Sparky Anderson, the Hall of Fame manager, once said that his idea of managing was “giving the ball to Tom Seaver and then sitting down and watching him work.” Hank Aaron, one of the greatest hitters of any era, said Seaver was “the toughest pitcher I ever had to face.” It was Aaron who met Seaver at the 1967 All-Star Game in Anaheim, when Seaver was 22 and in the midst of his rookie season. “Kid, I know who you are,” Aaron said, “and before your career is over, I guarantee you everyone in this stadium will, too.” https://theathletic.com/2041307/2020/09/02/the-franchise-tom-seaver-a-baseball-artist-and-a-mets-icon-dies-at-75/https://theathletic.com/2041307/2020/09/02/the-franchise-tom-seaver-a-baseball-artist-and-a-mets-icon-dies-at-75/ From Oakland, at the '73 World Series: [FIMG=555]https://www.rawchili.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/118654973_153660066379399_2648805961463079317_n.jpg [/FIMG] The Mets “official” blog recalled the 1967 ASG in 2017 and said Seaver's last out was “Ken Barry”. https://metsinsider.mlblogs.com/a-terrific-rookie-season-f617d5fb5d29https://metsinsider.mlblogs.com/a-terrific-rookie-season-f617d5fb5d29