G-Fafif

The DiPoto story is a peach, even if a) he was a lousy relief pitcher for the Mets; suddenly turned into Ron Taylor against the Mets as a Rockie; and c) did not pitch for the Mets while the Franchise was a Met broadcaster. Jerry's tenure took place during the long on-the-outs period during which Seaver was in scarce supply at Shea Stadium. But Jonah Seaver DiPoto taking the mound in No. 41 at Citi Field...that I'd like to see. A Mets guy as a kid, Dipoto realized his dream of being an authentic Mets guy as an adult, pitching out of the bullpen in 1995 and 1996 � the same years that Seaver was part of the Mets� TV broadcast crew. �He was very good to me when I played for the Mets and very good to my son,� said Dipoto, who gave his son Jonah the middle name of Seaver. �When he was born, Tom was nice enough to send him a basket of goodies.� Seaver also gave Dipoto�s son permission to wear No. 41 should he ever pitch for the Mets. The letter Seaver wrote is framed in Jonah�s bedroom, next to a framed photo of the 311-game winner. �My son has had a picture of Tom Seaver over his bed since he was in a crib � and he never saw him play,� said Dipoto. �But I think he knows the importance of what Tom meant to me when I was my son�s age. �A great guy, a great career. And now he makes a heck of a bottle of wine.�

Stuart Sternberg says never mind that Tampa Bay team I own (which is what most of the Tampa-St. Pete population does quite comfortably by avoiding trips to Tropicana Field). He's orange and blue through and through. "As a Met fan growing up and all, it�s wonderful to be here in September when things really do matter, and it�s a very exciting time to be a Met fan. And I am still, as well, even though I�ve got the Tampa Bay Rays,�� Sternberg told the audience Wednesday at Citi Field, where he introduced MLB commissioner Rob Manfred at the 2015 Sports Diversity & Inclusion Symposium. Sternberg was born and raised in Canarsie, and one of his favorite memories is attending his first major league game at Shea Stadium in 1965 with his father and getting to watch Sandy Koufax pitch. Even after making enough money to lead a group that took over the Rays from Vincent Naimoli in 2005, he didn�t leave New York � he lives in Rye with his wife and four children � and didn�t lose his love of the Mets.

John Stearns for Mayor? In a Phillies cap?

Duda 4.0 CTorres 0.5 Conforto 0.5

Gwreck wrote: G-Fafif wrote: As I recall, the issue wasn't replacing Hernandez in the NLDS (I believe Royce Ring got the call, but was never used). It was not being able to replace Floyd on the eve of the NLCS. Didn't Cliff start game 1 of the NLCS, though? And got injured running the bases? You're right about Game One. Was iffy to begin with, though he talked himself onto the roster after hurting himself in Game Three vs LA.

I crossed paths with Breuer in a Met capacity in 2006 at which point it was clear he had put in his time. I don't know why the Facebook videos took off as they did. His household-nameness, even at his late '90s peak, never soared (and apparently never reached the Grimm household), but he is authentic and he is enthusiastic.

As I recall, the issue wasn't replacing Hernandez in the NLDS (I believe Royce Ring got the call, but was never used). It was not being able to replace Floyd on the eve of the NLCS. Either way, somebody lock O'Flaherty in his room at the 114th St. Holiday Inn until November 4, just in case.

That puzzled me too. Apparently it's erstwhile Savannah Sand Gnats manager Jos� Leger, who has been an unpublicized September addition to the Mets coaching corps. Now that Jose Leger has had quicker impact than any coach in Mets history: appointed on a Tuesday, clinching on a Saturday, he won't be unpublicized for long.

deGrom 4.0 Herrera 3.0 Plawecki 1.0 Campbell 1.0 Conforto 1.0

Nice to have Harvey feel like part of the team again. Nice to go out to pick up a late supper, put my Mets cap on, breathe in the night air and have it feel so 1986 familiar. Nice to have a division champion as our team in residence, no?

Duda 2.5 Harvey 2.0 Wright 1.5 Granderson 1.0 Cuddyer 1.0 Familia 0.5 Murphy 0.5 Flores 0.5 Clippard 0.5

Colorado Rocks.

The game eventually ended (the Nationals clinched second-place) but I'd like to think of Washington as the Howard Jarvis character after the credits in Airplane, sitting and waiting, with the Phillies, in the back of their cab, waiting for the driver to come back and realizing he ain't gonna show. Bryce Harper said he hopes the Mets win the World Series. His manager managed like he wished that all along.

Syndergaard 5.0 Duda 4.0 Granderson 1.0

Murphy 2.5 Matz 2.0 Wright 1.0 Cespedes 1.0 Duda 1.0 Familia 1.0 Reed 0.5 Goeddel 0.5 Granderson 0.5

The 1999 Mets did some fancy playoff spot clinching in Cincinnati.

Did somebody say STAND UP AND SHOUT? Because this, sadly, is what that makes me think of. [youtube:3zysse1b]W7fC-zwAA70[/youtube:3zysse1b]

Colon 3.0 Tejada 1.5 Wright 1.0 Murphy 1.0 Clippard 1.0

Imagining this conversation pre-Opening Day. "We'll get to the middle of September and David Wright will not have been Schaefer Player of the Week even once." "What?" "But Yoenis Cespedes will have won it twice." "WHAT?!?!?"

Yogi Berra was legendarily lucky and unquestionably good. If you have that going for you, there’s not much that can go against you. Berra — whose presence as a Met catcher, coach and manager for eleven seasons between 1965 and 1975 was so constant that it barely occurred to a kid reaching baseball consciousness in that period that he’d had anything to do with anybody else — passed away Tuesday night at 90. It was the last night of summer, but fall was already firmly in the air. The first thing I thought of when I heard the news this morning, what with the window open and a soft breeze brushing by, was that this is Yogi’s time of year. When others might be putting a wrap on their baseball seasons, Yogi’s was just getting going. He played, managed or coached in 23 postseasons, from his rookie year with the Yankees in 1947 to 1986, when he was the bench coach for the National League Western Division champion Astros. Nobody came to the plate more often in World Series competition and nobody recorded more hits. Nobody else guided a team from each league to the seventh game of the World Series. As this autumn alights, each of the three franchises for whom Yogi Berra wore a uniform is well positioned to make it to the playoffs. It’s a fairly fitting tribute to how whatever he touched eventually turned to good. Yogi Berra was a fall classic unto himself. And he wasn’t bad the rest of the year, either. Take April, for example. April 1972, to be specific. That was the month Yogi accepted his second managing job, taking the reins of our New York Mets. It was under the worst circumstances imaginable. The man he coached first base for, Gil Hodges, had just died young. It still stands as the most tragic episode in the history of the franchise. Gil was already a legend. Now he was a saint. There could be no tougher act to follow. But Yogi followed it. “I don’t like the way the job came,” he would say later. “But I want to prove I can manage.” Full piece here.

Wright 2.0 Murphy 1.0 Conforto 0.5

Pete Mackanin: no longer interim. Signed through next year.

Also, Mookie surely caught a first pitch as coach while wearing 1.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: ...Mike DiFelice Chris Cannizzaro Henry Blanco Vance Wilson Mackey Sasser... I don't think we've ever had a catcher who wears No. 1... Bobby Pfeil would've, if asked (I've decided).

Wisler? I don't even know her.