G-Fafif

Terrible news: Marty Noble, the best Mets beat reporter who ever lived, has died. I believe he was around 70. Nobody knew the ballclub more granularly or told its story more stylishly. What a loss. JCL arranged for Marty to speak at one of our intermittent Met Lit gatherings in 2010. He shared Amazin' stories and unvarnished opinions -- and was quite the gentleman in the process. Enjoy this Q&A with him from a couple of months ago. https://tinyletter.com/NYBBWAA/letters/issue-6https://tinyletter.com/NYBBWAA/letters/issue-6

Noah Syndergaard ripped the impending drive-by trip to Syracuse for a two-hour Tuesday afternoon workout, especially coming on the heels of schlepping across Florida to play in Sarasota Monday. He says players would have preferred a little time in NYC to settle in before heading to DC and notes it's counter to all the team has been told about importance of establishing sleep patterns and such. Also criticized management for not getting Jake's deal done, which might be a wee bit more significant.

Callaway says Ramos is totally fine...no, really.

Wilson Ramos leaves last PSL game when, while catching, he takes a pitch off a couple of fingers on his right hand.

Clear memory of Kevin McGowan getting racked (or wracked) around in the first game of a doubleheader, last week of the 2017 season against the Braves. Also part of a 17-5 shellacking at Wrigley that September. Went on the fan-produced Good Fundies podcast -- not affiliated with any media company -- as a major leaguer, which is the way to be. Was surprised when he was DFA'd so soon, because every non-hyped reliever who makes it to the bigs seems so admirable. Felt same away about Chasen Bradford.

Murphy recently took a job at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, partly the result of his piece for the Atlantic on driving for Amazon.

Pedro Beato is the new Sal Maglie, pitching and barbering.

Peterson. Bashlor. Zamora. Optioned.

These would each be splendiferous covers except for the dreaded MFYS III popping out of the New Yorker box. Cute idea, though. I went with the venerated title All-Star Sports, getting the edge not just for The Franchise but because I didn't really expect to see a pulpy mag with no particular pedigree (no offense, Dell) show up here. I loved running into these things, usually in Baseball Preview form. Plus, geez, look at Tom on the mound. You don't usually see the left field stands abrupt cutoff at Shea from that side angle, especially on a magazine cover. I can feel the wind howling through there now. Kooz was presumably warming up with Dave Racianello (yeah, that guy's been here a long time). I'm guessing Mr. Long Ball would have been anybody on the cover who hit home runs. No, not much of a sobriquet. Always a little weird seeing those road uniforms. Never liked the block NEW YORK. Always liked Darryl. He was definitely carrying the club that summer, he and the pitchers. Coming sometime this year to Citi Field: Mr. 'Lons Ball.

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: =G-Fafif post_id=4700 time=1553167136 user_id=55] The Fantasy issue is distinct from the Baseball Preview. The message that they're not above watering down the brand speaks pretty loudly though.

They forecast the then-downtrodden Astros as 2017 world champions in 2014. Apparently they got better with the prognosticating.

Murray Chass tells stories, flattering and otherwise, from his decades of knowing the man he called Franny. http://www.murraychass.com/?p=11928/http://www.murraychass.com/?p=11928/ This was published on Chass's site, but was written by Marty Noble.

Josh Tomlin joins the Braves.

Third baseman Randy Jackson, aka Handsome Ransom, 93. Socked the final homer in Brooklyn Dodger history in the club's penultimate game, off future Met Don Cardwell (then a rookie Phillie). Jackson played from 1950-59, making two All-Star teams as a Cub.

Ichiro hanging 'em up when the Mariners' opening set vs the A's in Tomyo is complete. Tune into ESPN ASAP if you want to see him (or hurl invective at him) as an active player.

The Fantasy issue is distinct from the Baseball Preview.

Mr. MacCambridge should visit it sometime. Come away from the coasts once in a while and see what the rest of America cares about. MacCambridge should be quite familiar with the middle of the country, per his Wikipedia entry: MacCambridge was born in Houston, Texas, but lived the majority of his youth in Kansas City, Missouri, moving there from Franklin, Nebraska at age 8. He graduated from The Barstow School in 1981. He attended Marquette University for two years before transferring to Creighton University, where he graduated with a B.S. in journalism in 1985. The following year he earned a Master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. MacCambridge began his career as a copy editor and staff writer at the Omaha World-Herald. He was hired by Daily Variety as a staff writer/reviewer in 1987. In 1988 he was hired by the Austin American-Statesman as a pop music critic; in 1990 he became the American-Statesman's film critic, a position he held until 1995. During his tenure at the American-Statesman, he founded the Society of Texas Film Critics.

My subscription recently lapsed. Partly because the content that is of interest is generally accessible online, partly because much of the content is unremarkable, I find myself not missing it. I liked the sensation of its appearance in my mailbox, but the actual reading grew less exciting over time Speaking of which, I also let the Time sub lapse.

http://i67.tinypic.com/2eg7lgp.jpghttp://i67.tinypic.com/2eg7lgp.jpg

Johan cover still gives me a nice little surge of adrenaline, just as it did the week it was published, so I'll give it the edge over the historical significance of the Movin' Mets (the Mets being on the cover of a magazine for maybe getting good for the first time). Ellery Queen...man, that's weird, which is certainly not a disqualifier, but it doesn't quite solve the mystery for me. Seaver and Palmer is a good combo just about any week of the '70s, but I'm not here for the Orioles magazine cover derby.

The one game in SF for Opening Day was a result of MLB postponements resulting from the mourning that followed MLK's assasination. http://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/martin-luther-king-assassination-anniversary-mlb-baseball-response-mets-dodgers/9wd7hwwbncje1f2r0vhlkenglhttp://www.sportingnews.com/us/mlb/news/martin-luther-king-assassination-anniversary-mlb-baseball-response-mets-dodgers/9wd7hwwbncje1f2r0vhlkengl

Jake is one of the three regional SI Fantasy covers for 2019, newsstand only. https://www.magazine.store/sports-illustrated/2019/si-presents-2019-fantasy-baseball-preview-jacob-degrom/https://www.magazine.store/sports-illustrated/2019/si-presents-2019-fantasy-baseball-preview-jacob-degrom/

The orange border complementing Felix's blue did the trick for me. A national magazine adjusting its specs for the Mets is respect. Casey-Yogi couldn't be more photogenic, though that uniform on Berra is kind of a dealbreaker here. Yogi was 38 at the time, yet appeared not that far removed from Casey's demographic. I get the feeling Keith's agent had to convince him to pose for Sport. When he showed up, he had to be reminded it wasn't Sports Illustrated. I'd definitely be delighted to find that issue offered on a flight. Not pictured on the 2007 SI cover: Joe Smith. He was photographed, spread out on the floor, head resting on fist, but they cropped the kid.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis joins your Long Island Ducks.

I distinctly remember that Baseball Digest being thinner than most issues, with an explanation from the publisher that the national paper shortage was the reason. That was a real thing in late 1973. Remember waiting more than two months for a review of the World Series? Sometimes I miss baseball winters the way they used to be, morsels parceled out here and there and being immensely grateful for every bite. That issue might have helped cement my view of the 1973 World Series as not a terrible thing despite the loss. "We still get to be in this great magazine -- more or less on the cover -- despite having lost in seven games." I didn't subscribe to SI until 1991, so it took a compelling angle to get me to buy an issue. I bought that one in 1987. I think I allowed myself a half-hour of "well, if the Mets can't be in it, maybe a World Series in New York would be OK..." and then I got over that nonsense ASAP. I missed that New Yorker cover somehow in first run. I say somehow because I had http://www.faithandfearinflushing.com/2007/03/22/reading-is-fundamental/written a piece around that time about how big it was to me, even now in 2007, that the Mets get magazine coverage. I don't feel I was missing much. Casey carries the day here. I hesitate to throw the i-word around too much (it was a theme in the yearbook derby), but that's an iconic cover at the outset of a franchise. I bet we don't get that kind of coverage (cover-age?) if anybody else was hired to manage.