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John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Mets still maintain an agency, I believe Publicis Group or one of its boutiques. They also do stuff like this on one-off basses http://www.boldworldwide.com/new-york-mets-video-commercials-ad-agency Those are good. When/where did they run? I never saw them before.

Well leadin' off we got this fella Aoki, which sounds a lot like a Oak, which is who I managed in Oakland when I met Mister Weiss, who brought me to New York the first time and we won some ballgames for the owners but when i turned seventy they decided I wuzn't quite as young as I used to be and they told me my services wuz no longer required, so it was back to Glendale with Missus Stengel who got tired of looking at me for very long and here I am, like Aoki is in right. Next up at second is Mister Reyes, who gave the ballclub some mighty fine years before the owner in Miami tempted him with a big contract that seemed too good to be true because it wuz and then he went to Canada where he decided it was cold and Colorado where he decided it was high and Hawaii, which he shouldn'ta done at all, but he's here again and he's giving the club another good year in the last half though not much in the first half and ya hafta decide what yer lookin' at, but if ya look too long, Mister Reyes'll take off from first and be on second, which is also where he'll be fielding his position which he's not as good at as he was at short, but he's not that good there either anymore and even worse at third but he keeps smilin', which ain't easy around here right now so ya gotta hand it to him, 'cuz if you don't, he'll take third on ya. The third batter and third baseman is a fella whose first name I can't pronounce but he gets up every morning with a body in almost as old a shape as mine and he comes here and he'll play anywhere ya tell him, even if sometimes he complains that he wants to be somewhere else, he's always here, making the plays sometimes, sometimes making the errors, which kind of sounds like his last name, which is Cabrera, though the first name might hafta be named later. Cleaning up is a kid Nemo who is always happy to be here, whatever it he is asked to do he comes out grinning his teeth from Wyoming right back to Central Park, which is where he could live in the offseason as I don't expect to be using my rooms they give me at the Essex House when I'm back in Californy, and if he stays in New York City in the winter, he'll get to know the sponsors and the fans and they'll give him a big hand next year because they know he's one of them now, usually not so easy if yer from Wyoming because you hafta watch out for the black bears and the brown bears and I don't mean the ones in our bullpen, which is quite a thing to have, but that's how they like to be known. Nemo will be in left. My catcher is Mister d'Arnaud, who sounds French but is part Filipino, where I played an exhibition in the last century when my legs wasn't so gnarled. We didn't have a d'Arnaud on that trip, but this one can run better than I ever could, though the throwing seems to get the best of him and the catching is nothin' special and the hittin' only sometimes gets it done, which is why the thought to have him share home plate with the Palooka kid isn't a bad idea, because if you don't have two catchers, you have no chance picking up the plurality of passed balls that these pitchers is throwing this year but hopefully not as much when they take 'em out and drill 'em in Florida, where the sun casts shadows and you learn that this here game is loomin' on ya. Next up is Smith, which could be anybody, but this one is a big boy and I like his hands and I like his bat sometimes but I wish he'd steer clear of the post game buffet they put out because one Smith is plenty and I don't need a first baseman who's larger than life. I'll take care of that. Our phee-nom Rosario plays short and hits next and he can hit a lot but he's gotta stay away from certain foods, too, not because he ain't wiry, 'cuz he is, but because he gets the food poisoning and he misses a series in Miami and they have the strong coffee and the strong slugger who hits our pitchers, so I don't need balls slipping through the infield where Rosario oughta be. I've got socks older than this kid, but none of them is as promising, so that's a good thing. Mister Lagares is in center and batting eighth, and he'll run down whatever ya need out there. My announcer says his glove is where extry base hits go to die, which is clever, but so is Mister Lagares's bat, meanin' deadly, which explains maybe why he's not higher up in the order, but I don't make the contracts or the rules or the orders. I just add the commentary when they ask, which isn't as often as you'd think for a baseball man of my vintage, but they gave me the vice president title and send me the checks so I keep my mouth shut except when I don't and I expect Mister Lagares could improve if they put his mind to it. The pitcher is a long-haired feller about who we have plenty of those, barberin' not bein' the career option it used ta be when I was comin' up and if ya couldn't make it as a ballplayer, ya'd wanna learn a trade, mine bein' dentistry, which ain't exactly a stroll in the park, but a pair'a scissors can come in handy if ya wanna cut down on the walks and runs because ya give up enough'a those, then yer in the barber shop with the rest of the know-it-alls who'll tell ya ya shoulda bunted when ya didn't, but I'm not necessarily willin' to give up those outs, and this long-haired fella could bunt when they called on him but he couldn't do anything else with a bat 'cuz they forgot to tell him his shoulder was achin' and he wuz the only one who didn't go and get himself disabled and they went to the one-game playoff which ain't enough when yer facin' elimination which is what we had when our other long-haired fella last year couldn't beat their long-haired fella, but that was last year and I seen my share of 'em, and this year we have one really dee-pendable long-haired fella, then we have this man, whose name is Gizellman and he's the man batting ninth.

It's the tucking in of the jersey that gets me, though because Joe did tuck, we get a gander at that hellacious buckle.

Bonny Kelly Johnson

A lineup so crazy, it just might work! Aoki CF Reyes SS Cabrera 3B Smith 1B Plawecki C Nimmo LF Evans 2B Taijeron RF Montero P

Fishy lineup: Ichiro LF Giancarlo RF Christian CF Justin 1B J.T. C Derek 2B Brian 3B Mike SS Odrisamer P Well, if Suzuki gets to go by his first name...

No Rosario again because the young man is "violently sick," according to his manager (and tweeted by DiComo). "It's more than the flu." Out for Wednesday afternoon's game, too, probably.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Yikes! I have trouble with a name like "Scott Boras." How am I going to handle "Odrisamer Despaigne"? More evidence that you are carrying on in the tradition of Ralph.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Oh. I thought it meant I could start dating beautiful Hollywood actresses and driving a Cadillac. I don't think Ava Gardner would like it if I came by to pick her up in my Honda Accord. I hear Ava is a sucker for things from the future.

The Marlins starting pitcher requires his own post so as to fit his entire name in. Going for Miami will be Odrisamer Despaigne. He has an earned run average of 4.35 and a word score of phenomenal.

Hey, the Mets are playing a baseball game on this date in 2017. The sizzling Nori Aoki leads off and plays right. The hot-hitting veteran Jose Reyes fills in again at short, batting second. The third-place hitter is third baseman Asdrubal Cabrera, swinging a scorching bat himself. Dominic Smith is at first and in the cleanup slot, really showing the power the Mets were hoping for. Travis d'Arnaud catches, bats fifth and looks to continue his incremental progress. Brandon Nimmo continues to flash the leather in left; he'll bat sixth. Gold Glove defender Juan Lagares is stationed in center, batting seventh. Versatile Phil Evans makes his major league debut at second, batting eighth. And pitching and batting ninth, one of the keys to the Mets' 2016 playoff drive, Seth Lugo. Cripes, I almost believe that's a real team.

Apropos of Pirate fever, it was thirty years ago tonight, with the Mets at Three Rivers, that Ralph Kiner's number was retired. Took them long enough.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I got his name wrong, didn't I? I'm turning into Ralph Kiner! It's Scott Boras, right? Correctamundo. Just means that, like Ralph, you've seen a lot of baseball. I'm pretty sure I spent half a year thinking the Mets signed Joey Cora.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: course, for Harvey to have signed a contract in 2015, the Mets would have had to offer one. The Mets didn't. Was that because the Mets had no interest in locking up Harvey then, or because Team Harvey sent out unambiguous signals that Harvey had no interest in committing? The Mets had less to lose and the Harveys more to gain, conceivably, by waiting. I don't know if anybody talked to anybody, but I can't imagine it got too far. I do wonder, for the hell of it, had TJS never occurred and Harvey continued along his 2013 trajectory in 2014 if the lock-him-up instinct would have overtaken ownership. If we are to assume, as a hypothetical, that a Cy-caliber Harvey pitches that season, then we can figure the Mets would have made a little extra progress beyond the strides they took (though they probably wouldn't have had Colon, who was quite helpful, so maybe the overall picture wouldn't have developed that much brighter). With Cinnamon Boy retiring in the Bronx, I can picture Jeff deciding, "This is our chance to take back the town, we can't lose Harvey to the MFYs," though I can't picture Jeff calling them the MFYs. All conjecture, the kind of stuff I wouldn't subscribe to a streaming service to watch, but we're a hundred games out with a dozen left to play.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Well, Steve Boros almost never lets his clients agree to a contract that will delay free agency. Ex-A's manager Steve Boros? Talk about your Alderson puppets!

batmagadanleadoff wrote: I remember we once had a discussion here, probably in 2015 -- because it was after Harvey came back from TJ surgery, he was pitching well, and it was before his second serious (thoracic) setback. We were discussing whether Harvey should sign a long term contract or wait for his inevitable big free agent payday. I suggested that given Harvey's medical history, it wouldn't be a bad idea for him to sign a contract in 2015. That contract wouldn't have been as lucrative as his FA contract, had he continued to enjoy relatively good health going forward, but it would have eliminated a lot of health risk going forward, especially given Harvey's TJ history. The Mets locked up Lagares, and Lagares has been a disappointment (and injured often). The Mets locked up Wright, and Wright hasn't been able to perform. The Mets reportedly talked to Duda about a long-term deal after he came off his best year and Duda apparently demurred. It doesn't seem these things ever quite work out for team and player simultaneously. That's not necessarily a trend or pattern, just makes one realize how iffy picking what's behind the curtain as opposed to what's inside the box can be.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: It's Talk Like a Pirate Day, peeps Aarrgghh! Aarrgghh team sucks! --How Pirates talk at present

Had a good year in helping the Double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp to the playoffs. But still nowhere near the majors eight years after the Mets drafted him.

Moose's one moment in the national baseball spotlight came as third base coach for the Angels in the 1986 ALCS (we might have been too distracted to dwell on it). He looked bad, but a star player who continues to be touted as an overlooked HOF candidate, looked worse. BOSTON — The horns were pinned on the wrong man Wednesday. It was veteran second baseman Bobby Grich, not third-base coach Moose Stubing, who was the goat as the Boston Red Sox flogged the California Angels to square the best-of-seven American League playoff series at one victory for each side. There were five errors, two other defensive misplays and a pair of baserunning boners. As Gene Mauch, the ``Little General`` who manages the Angels, said after the game: ``No sense in me describing what happened. I don`t understand it myself.`` Mauch was asked for his view of the play on which Bobby Grich was thrown out after rounding third base. ``Goodbye,`` Mauch replied and walked out of a crowded press conference. Grich didn`t want to talk about it, either. But Stubing, in his second season as the Angels` third-base coach, stood at his locker and played the good soldier. ``My fault,`` Moose insisted. ``All my fault. They tricked me. They got me.`` But good old Moose, 6 feet 3 inches and 250 pounds, an obscure figure in the world of major league baseball, was covering up. To some extent it was his fault, but essentially it was Grich`s boner. Seventeen years in the AL and Grich forgot that a runner such as himself, possessing only ordinary speed, doesn`t score from second on a sharp single to left field in Fenway Park, where there is no left field. In another park, yes, but not in Fenway, where it`s only 315 feet to the wall and where the left-fielder plays no more than 180 to 200 feet behind the shortstop. It was the sixth inning and the game was still on the line, the Angels trailing by only 3-2. One out and two men on, Grich at second and Dick Schofield at first, both having reached with singles. Bob Boone, next up, lined a single to left field. Grich, the potential tying run, took off in the foolish belief that he had a chance to score. As he approached third, Grich looked to Moose for the sign. Should he round third and continue for home? Or hold up at third? Moose was frozen. He didn`t give a sign. And so Grich didn`t stop--not until he was about 20 feet past the bag and after left-fielder Jim Rice had thrown to third baseman Wade Boggs, who fired back to shortstop Spike Owen covering third. Aware he was dead, Grich tried to retreat to third, but Owen had the ball and Grich was an easy out. Angry, Grich bounced his helmet, threw both arms skyward in despair and screamed at good old Moose. ``They did it right,`` Moose said later, praising the Boston defense. ``I did it wrong.`` Moose explained he stopped Grich ``verbally`` and insisted his mistake was that he ``didn`t see the cutoff man.`` But the cutoff man was not a factor. If the throw had gone through to the catcher--and Rice has a good arm--Grich would have been out. If he had held at third, the rally would have been alive: bases loaded and only one out. Instead, there were two outs and the Angels had runners at first and second. Gary Pettis struck out, and the Red Sox were out of the inning, their lead intact. Later, Grich said he apologized to Moose for throwing his helmet and for shouting. But Grich refused to admit he was to blame. ``I never got a sign,`` Grich said. ``Apparently, he was giving a verbal command, but I can`t read lips.`` It was a tough day for Grich. One inning earlier, in the fifth, with the score tied at 2-2, he was unable to handle Dwight Evans` routine pop-up behind second base that fell for a run-scoring double and put the Red Sox ahead to stay. In the seventh, Grich was charged with the Angels` third and final error, gumming Bill Buckner`s grounder. That mistake triggered a three-run rally that broke the game open and sent the Red Sox ahead by four at 6-2. ``I didn`t see Moose throw his arms up when Grich lost that pop-up, or when he didn`t come up with Buckner`s grounder,`` said a Boston veteran. ``What Grich did to Moose was bush.`` Still, there was no complaint from Moose. ``Baseball is an emotional game,`` he said. ``I can understand why Grich was upset.`` What was difficult to understand was that the Angels, usually sound on defense, could have such a poor day with the glove. In addition to Grich`s boot, they committed two other errors in the seventh inning, a fumble by third baseman Doug DeCinces on a double-play grounder and a wide throw to first by shortstop Schofield while attempting a double play. The three errors in one inning tied a playoff record. ``I`ve seen games like this before but never in the playoffs,`` said California`s Don Sutton, a 21-year major leaguer. ``It was ugly, wasn`t it?`` Reggie Jackson, another ancient warrior, tried to laugh it off. ``I`ve seen thousands of games like that,`` he said, smiling. ``I`ve caused a few myself.`` But Jackson refused to admit the loss was fatal. ``I agree it was unusual for us to play like that, but how many times will you see Roger Clemens pitch as poorly as he did in the first game? These things happen. It`s all part of the circus.``

If something feels different this Sunday evening, it's because this is the first weekend series since late June in San Francisco that the Mets won on both Saturday and Sunday. It had happened two weeks before in the Atlanta area and it hadn't happened otherwise this year, certainly not at Citi Field.

Admin did what needed to be done.

We are on our 37th Mets 3B debut since young Wright broke in on July 21, 2004. 166. Phil Evans 09/17/2017 165. Travis d'Arnaud 08/16/2017 164. Neil Walker 08/09/2017 163. Asdrubal Cabrera 07/22/2017 162. T.J. Rivera 08/10/2016 161. Jose Reyes 07/06/2016 160. Ty Kelly 05/24/2016 159. Matt Reynolds 05/17/2016 158. Kelly Johnson 10/03/2015 157. Juan Uribe 07/25/2015 156. Danny Muno 05/25/2015 155. Ruben Tejada 05/14/2015 154. Anthony Recker 04/14/2015 153. Eric Campbell 06/05/2014 152. Omar Quintanilla 09/15/2013 151. Wilmer Flores 08/06/2013 150. Zach Lutz 06/27/2013 149. Vinny Rottino 05/28/2012 148. Ronny Cedeño 04/10/2012 147. Josh Satin 09/28/2011 146. Nick Evans 07/17/2011 145. Daniel Murphy 05/31/2011 144. Willie Harris 05/12/2011 143. Luis Hernandez 08/31/2010 142. Mike Hessman 07/29/2010 141. Justin Turner 07/19/2010 140. Wilson Valdez 08/25/2009 139. Andy Green 08/19/2009 138. Fernando Tatis 06/17/2008 137. David Newhan 09/29/2007 136. Ruben Gotay 09/07/2007 135. Damion Easley 04/19/2007 134. Julio Franco 09/10/2006 133. Eli Marrero 07/02/2006 132. Jose Valentin 05/26/2006 131. Miguel Cairo 04/21/2005 130. Chris Woodward 04/13/2005

R.A. vs. JdG. LGM!

Cespedes I've practically forgotten about. Montero I had all but forgotten about. Robles I'd like to forget about. Nimmo struggles to be memorable. Yup, August 2017. That's them. Love the fresh cards, Grimm. Two 1977s seem apropos.

http://www.theonion.com/article/united-states-toughens-image-with-umlauts-4230