G-Fafif

Callaway confirms the plan is Thor on OD, Jake in Game Two. Should health and nature cooperate, Thor coming in with 30.1 IP the season before will be the lightest load for an OD starter since Johan in 2012 coming off not pitching in MLB at all in 2011. Before that, I'm guessing, it's Randy Jones, 1982, who pitched 59.1 IP in 1981, a year when Randy was injured and the season was halved. Plus I believe he got OD only because postponement due to snow wrecked Bamberger's plans.

The latest... Yo with a sore wrist he kept quiet for a few games, in keeping with Ray Ramirez's evergreen advice. Dom's quad not seeing game action yet. Anthony Swarzak is still a thing. David Wright fades further into the cornfield with shoulder and back issues. Refraining from baseball activities for eight weeks. Advised to turn in his revolver and take that desk job, but he still has criminals to nab.

The 15-day forecast, avatar of long-range reliability, has weather in ZIP Code 11368 on March 27 as rainy with a high of 48 degrees. Perhaps it's the harbinger of a warming trend that will manifest itself two afternoons later and stabilize across the first homestand. But otherwise, March 29 takes place in March, and this March, to date, has been crummy around here.

Brandon Nimmo with a leadoff home run over the Seacoast Bank sign, or so the voices of Houston tell me.

Astrocasters complaining about the 64-degree first-inning temperature. Go to hell...or back to the White House.

Astro radio announcers explaining Altuve didn't realize he had such a punim while at the White House yesterday. Said he said he was happy to be there.

Not a president I was into, but a lovely occasion I would have happily attended had the guests of honor needed an extra body (and John Gibbons wasn't available). [youtube:36b7benv]PCas3eh5cSk[/youtube:36b7benv]

Ceetar wrote: G-Fafif wrote: I've always regretted that I have no answer for the theoretical question nobody's ever asked me, "How did the Mets do on the day you graduated from high school?" The Mets drubbed Bronson Arroyo. Piazza Homered. Bobby Jones went 8. Rich Rodriguez finished the 12-2 victory. I'm like 99% sure that was the date (so hard to verify this stuff from so long ago!) but I also vaguely remember watching that drubbing of Arroyo and almost certainly didn't watch the game actively, even if it was on the television at the resturant who's name I can't remember on the corner of Scranton and Union in Lynbrook that became a Charlie Browns and is now a hibachi. The SW corner of that intersection was home for many years to the Union Avenue Cafe, where our family got together the night of Opening Day 1987, not because we were stoked over the raising of the World Series flag earlier that afternoon, but because it was my parents' 36th wedding anniversary. It was the first place I remember encountering where pages from the sports sections were posted over the urinals, which, since the articles were all about the Mets preparing to open their season, I thought was the greatest of ideas. As good a celebration of a previous year's world championship as anything else IMO.

I've always regretted that I have no answer for the theoretical question nobody's ever asked me, "How did the Mets do on the day you graduated from high school?" given that baseball was on strike that particular June Sunday afternoon. In that sense, it would be preferable to say, "My World Series-winning team didn't go to the White House because that was when the idea of celebrating our accomplishment in that setting lay beyond the usual parameters of ceremonial niceties and struck us as a tacit endorsement of the thoroughly unendorsable." Which is to say, as with graduating from high school during a baseball strike and therefore not having a Mets score to sync to the occasion, it's just one of those things you leave blank -- but you got your diploma and you still won the World Series. (For the record, I do distinctly recall the Tidewater Tides playing the Columbus Clippers in a game broadcast on WMCA, June 21, 1981. I have not retained a final score.)

A wool Mets ski cap from the black as Mets color era made a cameo on the SNL of March 10, 2018. Kyle Mooney as goofy Christ Fitzpatrick was asking passersby to weigh in on how great rock is and/or how much greater rock is than rap, and one of his respondents was wearing said hat. Earlier on Saturday, spending several hours in Queens, I saw one guy wearing a Mets cap. And many people wearing the cap of some other local team.

Happened to catch the introduction to the afternoon program on WFAN today in which the recorded introduction let us know the broadcast would be coming to us live from "Steinbrenner Stadium" in Tampa. WFAN is the MFYs' flagship radio station. There is no facility called Steinbrenner Stadium. But this is what happens when you have unnatural affiliations.

A Boy Named Seo wrote: I wanna know who parked "Go to Hell, Mike Piazza!"?? Maybe Ben Stiller. In 2001, hot on the heels of major hits There’s Something About Mary and Meet the Parents, Ben Stiller became arguably the biggest comedic movie star going. In the heat of this success, Stiller almost made a movie called Go to Hell, Mike Piazza, in which he would have played a guy who’s hellbent on ruining the life of the famous MLB catcher, who he grew up with – and Mike Piazza was close to co-starring in the movie as himself.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: It must be Ron Swoboda Day throughout the universe. On the same day that this thread was opened, Rocky himself made a post to the Ultimate Mets Database. I figure there has to be a connection. Maybe Ron read the Faith and Fear post and that inspired him to start clicking around? The post included a link to the UMDB RF page, so perhaps.

MLB's Prospect Pipeline ranks Justin their No. 3 Mets comer, behind Andres Giminez and David Peterson. Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Slider: 55 | Curveball: 50 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 45 | Overall: 50 Dunn spent most of his time at Boston College as a reliever, albeit one with multiple pitches. A move to the rotation during his junior season greatly improved his Draft stock, landing him in the first round where the Mets nabbed him with the No. 19 pick in the 2016 Draft. After a solid summer debut, the Mets sent Dunn straight to the Class A Advanced Florida State League for his first full season and he struggled a bit there, finishing the final month of the season on the disabled list. Pure stuff-wise, Dunn was just fine with St. Lucie. His fastball was consistently in the 93-95 mph range and he was able to reach back for more on occasion. His slider can serve as a true out pitch, flashing plus with good late bite. As a reliever, he hadn't worked on his changeup much, and it's behind the other two pitches, but he does show feel for it. He'll need it to get lefties out, something he struggled with last year. Dunn is athletic and repeats his delivery fairly well, but he had command and control issues throughout 2017. A certain learning curve was to be expected, given Dunn's lack of starting experience, though being shut down at the end of his first season didn't help quiet detractors who worried about his size and durability. He still has the stuff to start and has the chance to wipe the slate clean. If starting doesn't work out, he certainly should impact the back end of a big league bullpen.

Stronger than dirt, inside and out.

Esther Williams could play ball -- with some real Wolves, too.

Love it! Would be a complete triumph with this singular second Opening Day included to reflect the split-season nature of 1981: http://leaptoad.com/mets/gamedetail.php?gameno=3147

Ceetar wrote: G-Fafif wrote: Spring Training broadcasts are most welcome when there hasn't been one yet; when spring is truly in the air; when the nor'easter outside your window requires a counterpoint. Ideal deployment of exhibition baseball today. if you're into that kinda thing, expect ratings to be high today Happy to theoretically spike WOR's midday numbers on a day its usual programming is pre-empted.

Spring Training broadcasts are most welcome when there hasn't been one yet; when spring is truly in the air; when the nor'easter outside your window requires a counterpoint. Ideal deployment of exhibition baseball today.

There's an airport bartender at JFK in the movie who says she hates the MFYs. Would have taken one line of dialogue to make her a Mets fan. But they didn't bother. So for this, among many reasons, fuck For the Love of the Game. Some nice songs on the soundtrack, though.

Sammy Stewart, O's reliever of yore, 63. http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bs-sp-orioles-stewart-obit-0304-story.html

Mex17 wrote: Nor did they say a word or lift a finger to do anything to observe the passing of Nelson Doubleday, an act of omission that I consider to be their greatest indignity as the owners of the team. They did offer a one-paragraph statement. http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2015/06/mets_statement_about_death_of_former_owner_nelson.html "We were saddened to hear the news of the passing of Nelson Doubleday, Jr. Nelson had a love of baseball and the Mets. On behalf of everyone at the organization, we send our condolences and sympathies to his family." There was a joint moment of silence for Doubleday and Darryl Hamilton at Citi Field at the outset of the first homestand following their respective passings. I remember it because I was fortunate enough to be in a suite that night and unfortunate enough to be next door to disrespectful dopes who wouldn't quit yapping during it.

Side note: The Mets leading with F&J reaching out to Rusty reads like preemptive defensiveness after Eddie and Buddy let it be known the Wilpons never called or wrote.

Multiple outlets reporting and the Mets acknowledging Rusty Staub not doing well. Staub, 73, is no longer responding to dialysis and was taken to a critical care unit. Former teammates were asking for prayers. [...] "Fred and Jeff Wilpon have each reached out to Rusty to wish him well," the Mets said in a statement. "In addition, multiple people in our organization have also been in contact with Rusty. Everyone wishes Rusty and his family nothing but the best in his courageous battle."

One spring, late '80s, Maury Allen offered his predictions in the Post and in a bylined piece in a preview magazine of the Street & Smith's ilk. One had the Mets running away with the division, the other suggested they were in big trouble. I got the feeling that by then Maury Allen did not value consistency.