G-Fafif

Juan Uribe.

Jim Beauchamp.

Good for Rod! J.C. Martin.

Rod Gaspar.

Anderson Hernandez

Ty Kelly tweets his retirement. Says baseball was better when he played.

J.D. Davis's over-the-shoulder catch is the MLB Play of the Week.

For years the Mets had loaded their offense with too many of the same type of hitter: high launch angle, pull hitters. Beginning in 2015, the Mets ranked fourth, second, second and sixth in average launch angle. Van Wagonen had these issues in mind when he searched for a hitting coach. “We did interview a number of hitting coaches,” he said. “Chili was a target because of how he communicated to us during his interview that he valued situational hitting. I don't want to say he rejected the ideas of strikeouts, home runs and launch angles, but he was a switch hitter who used the whole field. That appealed to us.” Translation: Davis is not a big believer in launch angle or the acceptance of a Three True Outcome approach (strikeouts, home runs, walks). The Mets also hired Tom Slater, 51, as the assistant hitting coach. Slater spent nine years coaching in the Yankees system and 17 years coaching in college baseball.

Tom Verducci celebrates Chili Davis, misspells Brodie Van Wagenen, explains Mets' revolutionary “don't hit it here, hit it there” philosophy and how it helped them solve Citi Field before this weekend. https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/08/26/new-york-mets-offense-citi-field-home-statshttps://www.si.com/mlb/2019/08/26/new-york-mets-offense-citi-field-home-stats

=MFS62 post_id=19947 time=1566764728 user_id=60] Their fans boo-ed Willie Mays and cheered Orlando Cepeda. Of course one of them would want Johnnie LeMaster's autograph. Ptui! Later

Edgy MD wrote: I think all the best stories connect to 1979. Smashing Pumpkins think so.

Here's a good lesson in baseball karma. Fracchia never, ever booed Johnnie LeMaster. “My friends gave me so much grief for trying to defend him,'' Fracchia says now. LeMaster heard so many catcalls that he famously wore “Boo” on the back of his uniform for one day in July 1979. The name was earned. He was a lifetime .222/.277/.289 hitter with a career WAR of -5.4. Then again, LeMaster was also selected as the San Francisco 25th Anniversary Dream Team shortstop. “He's a major-league player. He's doing the best he can!” Fracchia says now, still acting like an attorney for his client. “He was good defensively, and he's playing at Candlestick, which kind of sucks.” After retiring, LeMaster went on to serve as the head coach at Pikeville College in Kentucky, where he left after 12 seasons as the school's all-time wins leader as a coach. Fracchia reached coach LeMaster in his office one day with a cold call. “And he was the nicest guy,'' he said. LeMaster's autograph arrived in the mail on April 11, 2000. The day is better remembered as the regular-season unveiling of Pacific Bell Park. Fracchia attended that day and came home to find a cosmic connection to his first game at the ‘Stick. “The flukiest thing I could imagine,'' he said.

If you're a subscriber to the Athletic, read this story about the Giants fan whose mission was getting everybody listed in the club's 1979 media guide. https://theathletic.com/1131390/2019/08/23/in-search-of-halicki-hector-and-howdy-the-strangest-tale-youve-ever-heard-about-the-1970s-giants/https://theathletic.com/1131390/2019/08/23/in-search-of-halicki-hector-and-howdy-the-strangest-tale-youve-ever-heard-about-the-1970s-giants/ If you're not a subscriber, consider signing up.

In the starting lineup today, Rene Rivera's exile from Metsdom lasts 336 regular-season days, 23rd-longest among Recidivist Mets, of whom Rivera becomes the 51st.

Flexen down, Mazza up.

Amed Rosario – SS Jeff McNeil – 2B Pete Alonso – 1B Michael Conforto – RF J.D. Davis – LF Todd Frazier – 3B Juan Lagares – CF René Rivera – C Steven Matz – LHP

Ode to the first 41 of a Met home run nature embedded within. http://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2019/08/25/another-41-on-seaver-way/http://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2019/08/25/another-41-on-seaver-way/

41ST HR: Hundley 1996: Mets Game 148 Beltran 2006: Mets Game 159 ALONSO 2019: Mets Game 129

Amed Rosario – SS Joe Panik – 2B Pete Alonso – 1B Michael Conforto – RF Wilson Ramos – C J.D. Davis – LF Todd Frazier – 3B Juan Lagares – CF Zack Wheeler – RHP

Nido to 7-day concussion IL. Rivera en route. UPDATE: Rivera on taxi squad in case Nido has to go on IL, which you'd think would be the move to make when a catcher gets hit in the head. UPDATIER: Nido indeed to 7-day IL; welcome back René. But this appears f'reals: McNeil returns, Altherr DFA'd.

Annoying Braves sign annoying catcher Francisco Cervelli.

http://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2019/08/24/ghost-of-a-chance/Not a candidate for Best Game of the Year, though pretty good for that deGrom guy.

Amed Rosario – SS Joe Panik – 2B Pete Alonso – 1B Michael Conforto – RF J.D. Davis – LF Luis Guillorme – 3B Juan Lagares – CF Tomás Nido – C Jacob deGrom – RHP

5-0-1 in jv series, too.

Five in a row. We're done playing junior circuit teams until late October. Indians' Twitter account referred to the Mets as a “fringe” playoff team. Go Twin.