G-Fafif

Bones returns to the pen.

Eiland sure got dumber since last year when one of his pitchers won the Cy Young and another was basically his equal in the second half.

Jeff Wilpon marked "Dave Eiland" and wrote in "Chuck Hernandez".

The Jersey City Dodgers thing was O'Malley telling New York to get serious about giving them the new ballpark they wanted. The White Sox played selected home games at County Stadium for a couple of years after the Braves and before the Brewers, ostensibly to highlight Milwaukee's continued viability as a big league market.

Like the Isles splitting their seasons between Barclays and the Coliseum...but with a much longer commute.

Does this season's crumminess as its midpoint rapidly approaches feel disturbingly familiar? It should. The Mets are under .500 after 74 games for a third consecutive season, the first time the Mets have strung together these kinds of doldrums at this precise juncture of the schedule three straight years since 1994 through 1996 (actually 1992 through 1996). 2017: 33-41 2018: 31-43 2019: 35-39 There's not necessarily a speck of significance to the 74-game mark that couldn't be attributed to, say, the 75-game mark, other than that's how many games the Mets have played up to this moment, yet it surely signifies that it's no longer so early that you can slough off results to date to a small sample size. If you're of an optimistic bent, you're still scrounging around the GB column in both the division and Wild Card races and telling yourself it's not too late, particularly if you fancy the Mets just one decent hot spell from getting back to .500. And, of course, that's true -- we even have a primo example in our own family album, from 1973, to tell us not to give up despite a blahful record that seems to get a little more blah every week (we were 33-41 after 74 games that year). Nevertheless, we recognize a going-nowhere late-June vibe when we feel it. And when we feel it literally year after year after year, well, it weighs on the collective fandom. That this particular run has ensued with three distinct GM/Mgr combos -- Alderson-Collins; Alderson-Callaway (which became Ricco/Minaya/Ricciardi-Callaway); Van Wagenen-Callaway -- makes it all the more vexing, because you can't lay the blame for the whole thing at the feet of a given entity in the traditional "fire this guy" sense. Yes, you can rail all day and all night at the organizational fungus that grows from the ownership suite, but unless you've got a whole lot of green, it's gonna be tough to dislodge those gentlemen. The 74-game mark is not destiny, but only a few outliers haven't really announced their intentions across Met history by now. Only the 1973 and 2001 clubs below .500 at this point finished above .500. The 1991, 2002 and 2010 Mets were the only ones above .500 who finished below it. Five teams were at exactly .500; four (1976, 2005, 2008 and 2015) would rise above; the other, 2009, was about to drop below for good. I guess as long as there's a 1973 embedded in my consciousness, as long as there remain a handful of players from the 2015 team who I remember seeing in an actual World Series, and as long as 88 games remain, I'll buy a little into the outside chance that this season isn't already what it's going to down as. But probably not that much.

On June 19, Stephen Nogosek pitched wearing No. 72 and was succeeded on the mound in the same inning by Daniel Zamora wearing No. 73. That's as high-numbered as it's ever gotten in consecutive Met pitchers. Consecutive numbers is what I intended to express: 73 relieving 72. Sorry if I wasn't clear. Yes, Wendell 99'd everybody in sight, but there was no Met pitcher (or player) wearing 98. In 2016 and 2017, we had the possibility of Josh Edgin (66) relieving Robert Gsellman (65), which I can't say for sure happened, because I haven't looked it up. But we've never had two consecutive higher-numbered pitchers on the same Met staff than 73 and 72, and now we have not only that, but an incident of 73 taking the ball from 72 (via the manager). OE: On April 13, 2017, in the Mets' 16-inning victory over the Marlins at Miami (which, in retrospect, was the high point of that season), Terry Collins removed Gsellman in the fifth inning and replaced him with Edgin, which established the consecutive high-number successive pitchers standard that was topped Wednesday night in Atlanta.

On June 19, Stephen Nogosek pitched wearing No. 72 and was succeeded on the mound in the same inning by Daniel Zamora wearing No. 73. That's as high-numbered as it's ever gotten in consecutive Met pitchers.

DiSarcina could use a slot.

No. 73, Zamora, relieved No. 72, Nogosek, so that's something.

Coach to Baserunner: GO TAKE A FLYING LEAP

McNeil manufactures the first run like his middle name is Hanover.

Hector clears waivers, opts for free agency.

Marlins acquire former Mets farmhand Cesar Puello from the Angels for cash.

Will start Thursday night at Wrigley in place of Thor.

McNeil 2B Alonso 1B Conforto RF J.D. Davis LF Frazier 3B Ramos C Rosario SS Lagares CF Matz LHP

Whenever that day comes, it just got pushed back by one.

Nogosek first Met to wear 72 since Reinheimer...is about as random a sentence as one can type here.

24TH HR: Hundley 1996: Mets Game 94 Beltran 2006: Mets Game 81 Alonso 2019: Mets Game 73 Kingman 1976: Mets Game 72

Jeff McNeil - LF Pete Alonso – 1B Robinson Canó – 2B Michael Conforto – RF Todd Frazier – 3B Amed Rosario – SS Carlos Gomez – CF Tomás Nido – C Jacob deGrom – RHP

Do it or die now Stand your ground

Treat yo self to a visit to @arbuzzy, Twitter feed of Mrs. Ashley Buzzy McHugh, wife of Collin. The Binghamton stories alone will get your pony rumbling.

Ronny Paulino (2011), Shaun Marcum (2013) and Jason Vargas 2.0 (2018) each got late starts after signing, but not Lowriesque and certainly not Escobarian. https://mobile.twitter.com/AnthonyDiComo/status/13336611483https://mobile.twitter.com/AnthonyDiComo/status/13336611483

Kelvim Escobar, https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=47724382010 reliever in eternal absentia. Former Los Angeles Angels right-hander Kelvim Escobar has agreed to a one-year contract with the New York Mets. Escobar's deal is worth a guaranteed $1.25 million, a baseball source tells ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. Escobar, who has missed most of the past two seasons with a shoulder injury, must pass a physical exam for the deal to become official. He recently received the go-ahead to pitch winter ball in his native Venezuela from Dr. David Altchek, the Mets' team medical director -- who happens to be the surgeon who repaired Escobar's torn labrum in July 2008. If Escobar is healthy and makes the Mets' roster, he's most likely headed for the bullpen. He could become a set-up man for former Angels teammate Francisco Rodriguez. "With Escobar, we are looking at him as a reliever," Mets GM Omar Minaya said, according to the New York Daily News. The contract includes $2 million in potential bonuses based on games pitched, and an additional $1 million for games finished, along with more potential bonuses for awards. Escobar would also earn a $125,000 bonus for making the Mets' Opening Day roster. In 2007, his most recent full season, Escobar went 18-7 with a 3.40 ERA. He missed all of 2008 after shoulder surgery and pitched only five innings last season before another setback shut him down again. He became a free agent after the Angels did not offer him salary arbitration. Escobar came up through the Toronto Blue Jays system as a reliever and saved 38 games for the Blue Jays in 2002 before being converted to a starter. In 411 career appearances, including 202 starts, Escobar is 101-91 with 59 saves and a 4.15 ERA.

I think we were clear on the posthumous RSVP situation.