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McNeil 2B Conforto RF Alonso 1B Smith LF Frazier 3B Ramos C Rosario SS Lagares CF Matz P

Tyler Bashlor is the 26th man for the regularly scheduled game tonight despite the Mets presumably wanting to win it.

June 6, 2019, in Lakewood, Calif. Two days after his wife died... https://www.presstelegram.com/2019/06/13/dave-marshal-former-mlb-player-and-downtown-long-beach-parking-czar-dies-less-than-48-hours-after-his-wife/https://www.presstelegram.com/2019/06/13/dave-marshal-former-mlb-player-and-downtown-long-beach-parking-czar-dies-less-than-48-hours-after-his-wife/

Elias delineates the Mets-Astros game Kobel wound up finishing for Falcone after Kranepool disappeared as a protest upheld and not technically a suspended game, so tonight is technically the seventh resumption of a suspended Mets game, though the eighth resumption of a game otherwise played on a previous date.

That was when Seaver was a White Sock. He completed their 25-inning win over the Brewers, then went out and beat 'em in the scheduled game.

D'Arnaud was the Rays' starting first baseman Thursday night.

Mets are 4-3 in previous completions of suspended games.

Much like the Blues, we have our own Laura Branigan song. [Youtube]J1ih6L21jbc

Frayed Knot wrote: Marshall was the first Met I remember -- probably the first ballplayer -- with long hair. Unlike today when it seems half the sports stars want to be rock/rap stars and many in the music business like to burnish their athletic cred, in the '60s the jocks and the 'freaks' were at polar ends of the spectrum so you were either part of the long hair set OR the crew-cut crowd with little or no overlap. Namath probably came the closest but even he wasn't hanging with the hippies. That all started to wear down a bit as the '70s went on and I remember Marshall coming into spring training with very long locks flowing out of the back of his helmet. Don't remember the specific year and much of it was chopped by the beginning of the season anyway IIRC, probably under team orders. But of course, no amount of MLB's conservative bloodlines could hold back the hair -- straight, 'fro or facial -- forever. Anthony DiComo reports Noah Syndergaard has cut five inches of his golden blond locks. No word whether this is part of a tribute.

McNeil 2B Conforto RF Alonso 1B D. Smith LF Frazier 3B Ramos C Rosario SS Gomez CF deGrom RHP

Benjamin Grimm wrote: It's hard to believe there was a five-year stretch when the Mets made it to the World Series twice. This is a truly underrated fact. It's plain as day in our biography and been a part of our lives for more than 45 years now, so it doesn't appear to be all that mind-boggling, but given the space between pennants since then...wow. Zipping up the mountain in 1973 felt possible because 1969 wasn't so far back in the rearview mirror. Crazy late-season, odds-defying surges were what these guys did. Some of them were literally the same guys. Once we get to the next epoch of very good Mets baseball and we're referencing miracles and believing as needed, it's pretty close to ancient history (just enough players are still on the scene somewhere in the mid-'80s from the early '70s so that it's not utterly ancient). Then in our next set of October go-rounds, it's definitely another era. Yet in 1973, yeah, we can come back from a whole bunch of games down. We just did that a few years ago.

By my research reckoning a while back (aided immeasurably by Baseball Reference), Dave was the first de facto DH in Mets history to contribute to a win. Lately Gary Cohen has referred to the phenomenon in question as a zombie at-bat: someone pinch-hits for the pitcher, the team bats around and the pinch-hitter, who is no longer pinch-hitting for anybody, comes up again in the same inning. A Met has done it nine times, the first of them being Jim Fregosi the week before Marshall, except Fregosi did it in a loss. What made Marshall's accomplishment striking (and why I discovered it) was it took place in what still stands as the greatest comeback by volume the Mets have ever forged, part of the surge from the Mets being down 8-0 at the Astrodome on September 2, 1972, yet coming back to win, 11-8. Marshall walked in his first DF DH PA, then fouled out to end the seven-run eighth that cut the Mets' deficit to 8-7. They went on to score four in the ninth, presumably reawakening in Houston manager Leo Durocher nightmares from 1969. Your other Met DF DHs following Fregosi and Marshall: Mike Cubbage 1981 Howard Johnson 1985 Gregg Jefferies 1991 Vance Wilson 2003 Daniel Murphy 2011 Wilmer Flores 2017 Matt Reynolds 2017 Ken Boswell served much the same function in 1973, except as a pinch-hitter for Duffy Dyer in the ninth at Candlestick. The starting pitcher, trailing 2-1, batted for himself, having homered earlier in the game. It was Tom Seaver, of course. Tom bunted with two on and nobody out, reached safely, scored the tying run and returned to the mound in the bottom of the inning to finish off a complete game win.

Other members of the Chowder & Marshall Club would have to include Clint Hurdle (1985 and 1987 Mets but not 1986), Marlon Anderson (2005 and 2007 Mets but not 2006) and Zack Wheeler (whose stay since 2013 entirely skipped 2015 and 2016).

Based on the schedule, Swoboda's cover was shot either at Dodger Stadium, where the Mets played one of two games at night, or the Astrodome, where time of day was no longer a factor once the roof tiles were painted. Pretty sure Darling was photographed in the opener of a twi-nighter in mid-August, accounting for the sense of slightly fading daylight. Like em both a lot. Went with Rocky for the milestone of the Mets getting cover treatment for getting better rather than simply having Casey.

Dave Marshall's son, also named Dave, posted on a Giants Facebook group page, that his dad died at 76. The post was timestamped Saturday at 1:22 AM, so not sure if the date of death was June 6 or 7 (he lives in California, so he probably shared the news Friday night where he was). [bLOCKQUOTE]My dad Dave Marshall played 7 years of pro ball from 1967-73. 1967-69 with the Giants. He passed last night after a tough fight with congestive heart failure. He loved his time as a giant and still had many friends to this day with the organization. Just wanted to mention that to the Giant faithful. Below is his first major league home run. It was a 2 run shot with Willie Mays on base. Oh yeah the pitcher was Bob Gibson and the catcher was Tim McCarver.[/bLOCKQUOTE] Dave played for the Mets from 1970-1972. Missed both parties. Good pinch-hitter.

Swoboda famously had a Chinese grandfather.

ESPN's lack of prescience is a real problem. Their January 1991 feature, “Vince Coleman is New York's Kinda Guy and Always Will Be,” may not have played so well in the archives.

Best part of both of these covers is the Mets were playoff-bound when each was published. The joy of Jose is palpable. Noah is harder to read than Mona Lisa.

The Mets' designated hitters deigned not to hit in either game today. A very classy act of resistance.

Everything's Archie!

22ND HR: Hundley: 86th Game of 1996 Beltran: 78th Game of 2006 Alonso: 67th Game of 2019 Kingman: 58th Game of 1976

You are Alonso, Pete And you got me wanting you

Jake reclaiming his throne! Nicely done, both him and Grimm.

Partridges lay an egg.

MFYS III plays fair for a change.