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Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: No Jesse Orosco? Huh! No I think I overlooked him. Lemme double check. ST stats come from a secret source that had revealed discrepancies from the "official" record One bang of the garbage can for yes, two for Orosco.

Where are all-time Mets ST stats found?

Seeking a grand Opening Day, Mariners sign Collin Cowgill.

Roger Craig, who threw the first pitch in Mets history, turns 90 today, the fourth Met alive to have entered a tenth decade (Dave Hillman, Frank Thomas and Joe Pignatano are already there). Nick Diunte did a nice story on him when Roger was a lad of 89. https://metsmerizedonline.com/2019/03/mmo-exclusive-roger-craig-impacted-two-new-york-baseball-dynasties.html/https://metsmerizedonline.com/2019/03/mmo-exclusive-roger-craig-impacted-two-new-york-baseball-dynasties.html/

Long ago enough so as to be nostalgic, not so ancient to elude contemporary ears.

Brand new: The Throwback League, play by play of a tournament among pennant-winners 1974-2005 brought to us by old pal Josh Lewin. 1974 A's taking on the 1992 Braves in the first game/episode.

Nineteen future Mets were born the same year as the Mets. Tony Fernandez is the first of them to have died. Tony was born the same day Sandy Koufax no-hit the Mets, so maybe not the best of signs.

Jeremy Hellickson joins the ranks of the retired.

Tony Fernandez, shortstop for the 1993 Mets — and World Series winner for the 1993 Blue Jays — has died from kidney and stroke complications. He was 57.

Tommy Milone goes to Orioles camp, as kids will when they need a few weeks of fresh air.

Van Wagenen's assessment isn't off base. Though I'm wary of magically subtracting the determinative portions of a season or career to bend reality where want it to point, without the second halves of 2018 and 2019, Wheeler is marginally more appealing on the open market than Dillon Gee a few years before. Zack backsliding in the first half of '19 before recovering, in light of the erratic track record that preceded his initial breakout, represented a legitimately pauseworthy event when it came time to make a nine-figure commitment. But saying it out loud was bush. Be the classier one. “We wish him well and we're looking ahead” will do just fine.

Joe Posnanski has been producing one sublime essay per day on the 100 Greatest ballplayers ever leading into Opening Day for the Athletic. They are carefully ordered by the author without the players being strictly ranked, 100 through 1. Joe DiMaggio is 56. Jackie Robinson is 42. And, naturally, in today's entry, https://theathletic.com/1597144/2020/02/15/the-baseball-100-no-41-tom-seaver/?source=shared-articleTom Seaver is 41. What I really appreciate is Posnanski coming at so many familiar figures from lesser-explored angles. His Seaver essay doesn't dwell on everything every Mets fan knows, instead focusing on Joe having watched Tom do his thing late in his career (pitching against his Indians in 1985) and diving into Seaver's characteristically cerebral book, How I Would Pitch to Babe Ruth. Still, he captures the essence of the Franchise as we knew him best. In his youth, at his best, he blended a blistering fastball with a heart-stopping curveball with a vicious slider with a flawless motion that looked like it was pulled out of a “How to Pitch” pop-up book with a toughness that came from his time in the Marines. And that mind! Everybody talked from the start about Seaver's pitching mind. He seemed to know, instinctively, exactly what pitch to throw at exactly what time. It's a fitting tribute to an immortal of the game, but so is every article in the series.

Also joining Acereros de Monclova for 2020...Bartolo Colon.

The veteran outfielder plans to play in Mexico in 2020. In 2019, he took a memorable Uber ride to arrive in Flushing in time to sock a big homer vs the eventual world champs in May, and throttled the league-best Dodgers in September. Might have given us his MLB last, but it was also some of his best.

Rajai Davis is Mexico-bound, having signed with Acereros de Monclova.

Luke Gasparre, usher at Shea from beginning to end, then Citi's first decade, 95. A veteran of the Battle of the Bulge and friendly as all get out.

There was an epidemic of position players pitching in 2018 that came off as in-game tanking, which explains the push to clarify their use.

That's my impression.

This is gonna put a dent in the proliferation of hazy Memories threads down the line, with fewer September callups and less shuffling of interchangeable relievers.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: You can test that. Next time buy some feminine hygiene products and see what he says. “They're for my son.”

Martin Prado, who'd both been around forever and has seemed like an up and comer just as long, says... Later

“I don't much care for baseball, but if they're adding four playoff teams and a gimmicky setup, where do I sign?” Yeah, sure. Baseball for Baseball Fans 2020.

The beloved COO has issued a statement that clarifies nothing. "As spring training begins, on behalf of ownership, we would like to share more information explaining why the proposed transaction has ended, however due to confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements we are unable to do so at this time," Wilpon said. "So right now, I believe we need to focus on the future and not in the past and that's what we intend to do. We would like to assure our fans that we will continue our commitment to winning in 2020 and beyond and we'll work hard to earn and maintain everyone's confidence and trust. We'll be moving forward to find a new transaction. We will not be giving details or updates on the timeline or process until we are prepared to make a public announcement. Thank you, that's all I can say for now."