G-Fafif

By beating Colorado 14-9, the Mets achieved their first 14-9 win ever, bringing the total of scores they've won by exactly once to 23. 14-9 08/21/2015 a-COL 1 REG 12-7 05/13/2014 a-NYY 1 REG 16-5 04/12/2013 a-MIN 1 REG 16-9 06/29/2011 a-DET 1 REG 14-6 06/22/2010 h-DET 1 REG 13-10 09/10/2008 h-WAS 1 REG 13-9 07/19/2007 a-LAD 1 REG 13-7 07/16/2006 a-CHI 1 REG 17-3 07/08/2006-2 h-FLA 1 REG 18-4 08/24/2005 a-ARI 1 REG 13-5 08/03/2003 h-STL 1 REG 15-8 04/23/2000 h-CHI 1 REG 11-10 05/20/1999-1 h-MIL 1 REG 15-1 06/06/1992 a-PIT 1 REG 19-8 06/12/1990 a-CHI 1 REG 13-1 09/07/1989 h-STL 1 REG 15-11 06/16/1989 a-PHI 1 REG 23-10 08/16/1987 a-CHI 1 REG 16-13 07/04/1985 a-ATL 1 REG 20-6 08/07/1971 a-ATL 1 REG 15-5 10/03/1964 a-STL 1 REG 19-1 05/26/1964 a-CHI 1 REG 13-12 05/12/1963-2 h-CIN 1 REG

Cespedes 6.0 Granderson 2.0 d'Arnaud 1.0 Conforto 1.0

Murphy 2.5 Flores 2.0 Lagares 1.0 Verrett 1.0 Clippard 1.0

deGrom 5.5 Granderson 3.5 Murphy 0.5 Conforto 0.5

Granderson RF Murphy 3B Cespedes CF Duda 1B d'Arnaud C Johnson 2B Cuddyer Some strange position that shouldn't exist Conforto LF Flores SS Jacob deGrom pitches and bats not at all, sadly.

Harvey 4.0 d'Arnaud 1.5

Conforto 1 By joining the Citi Field Power Surge, Conforto (not surprisingly) exits Club Hessman, a.k.a. the group of Mets who hit only one home run as Mets. Eight such Mets hit their lone Met homer at Citi Field; four of them are pitchers; three of them aren't necessarily done homering as Mets: Johan Santana 7/6/10 Val Pascucci 9/24/11 (D) Jeremy Hefner 5/29/12 Bobby Abreu 4/26/14 Taylor Teagarden 6/10/14 Noah Syndergaard 5/27/15 Darrell Ceciliani 6/14/15 Matt Harvey 7/11/15 Last Met whose only Met HR came at Shea Stadium was Robinson Cancel.

Brewers farmhand David Denson comes out. For so long, David Denson desperately wanted to reveal to his baseball teammates that he is gay. He just never envisioned it happening in such impromptu and unstructured fashion. A first baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers' rookie affiliate in Helena, Mont., Denson had just entered the clubhouse a month or so ago when a teammate jokingly referred to him using a derogatory term for a gay male. It was the kind of profane, politically incorrect banter heard in that environment since team sports have been around. That teammate had no way of knowing Denson actually is gay, but the 20-year-old slugger of African-American and Hispanic descent quickly seized the opportunity. "Be careful what you say. You never know," Denson cautioned the player with a smile. Before he knew it, Denson was making the emotional announcement he yearned to share, and the group around him expanded to the point that he soon was speaking to most of the team. Much to Denson's relief, when the conversation ended he was greeted with outward support and understanding instead of condemnation. "Talking with my teammates, they gave me the confidence I needed, coming out to them," recalled Denson. "They said, 'You're still our teammate. You're still our brother. We kind of had an idea, but your sexuality has nothing to do with your ability. You're still a ballplayer at the end of the day. We don't treat you any different. We've got your back.' "That was a giant relief for me," Denson said. "I never wanted to feel like I was forcing it on them. It just happened. The outcome was amazing. It was nice to know my teammates see me for who I am, not my sexuality." The more Denson thought about it, though, the more he came to realize that a clubhouse confession wasn't going to be enough. Until he came out publicly as gay and released that burden, Denson didn't think he could truly blossom and realize his potential on the field. With the help of former major-leaguer Billy Bean, who last year was named Major League Baseball's first Ambassador for Inclusion, Denson reached out to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to tell his story in a telephone interview. In doing so, he becomes the first active player in affiliated professional baseball to reveal he is gay.

Reverse psychology thread title. Matt Harvey goes for New York.

Conforto 2.0 Cespedes 1.5 Robles 1.5 Niese 1.0 Familia 0.5 Clippard 0.5 CTorres 0.5 Granderson 0.5

Jose Valverde, released from the minors by the Nationals last month, has been suspended for PEDs. So if somebody signs him, he'll automatically be out 80 games. Smooth.

Colon 4.0 Cespedes 2.0 Lagares 1.0 Granderson 1.0 Familia 0.5 Clippard 0.5

Blaine Boyer goes on the Twins' DL. For that to happen, Blaine Boyer had to have been a Twin. Thought Blaine Boyer had been inactive since the Mets jettisoned (or Mettisoned) him in 2011. Didn't pitch in the majors in 2012 or 2013. Was briefly a Padre last year. Was a fairly active Twin this year. Go figure.

George Weiss went a veteran too far when he passed over Maury Wills and selected Honus Wagner in the expansion draft, I thought.

There was a companion CPF thread to this FAFIF post in 2014, but I can't find it. Besides, yours has a graph.

The largest divisional lead in Major League Baseball outside the state of Missouri belongs to the National League East's first-place New York Mets.

On June 27, 2010, the New York Mets defeated Michael Cuddyer and the Minnesota Twins, 6-0, to raise their record to 43-32, reaching 11 games over .500 for the fourth and final time that season. In 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, the Mets would not hit such a high-water mark at all. But on August 13, 2015, by defeating the Colorado Rockies, 12-3, the New York Mets (with Michael Cuddyer on their bench), raised their record to 63-52, or 11 games over .500 for the first time in more than five seasons. Bonus milestone (or milepebble): The last time the Mets won a 12-3 game was August 3, 2004, at Milwaukee in the first game they played after the passing of Bob Murphy. Winning pitcher, Al Leiter; losing pitcher, Chris Capuano. Three RBIs apiece from Mike Cameron and Joe McEwing.

Syndergaard 3.0 Johnson 2.5 Granderson 1.5 Lagares 1.5 Murphy 0.5 Cespedes 0.5 Uribe 0.5

Was surprised by size of crowd. Was thrilled by its intensity. Was blown away by the FIRST PLACE chants in the stairway. Nice to have a visitor from Maryland drop by.

deGrom 5.0 Uribe 2.0 Cespedes 1.0 Cuddyer 1.0 Clippard 0.5 Familia 0.5

Soup appears confused as to what he did to earn Bench Player of the Month honors. I vaguely recall a useful pinch-hit. Syndergaard looks very much at home in 1977.

The first-place Mets we hope to see clear fences, not break chairs. Lagares CF Granderson RF Cespedes LF Uribe 3B Cuddyer 1B Flores 2B D'Arnaud C Tejada SS DeGrom RHP

Harvey 5.5 Cuddyer 1.5 Lagares 1.5 Tejada 1.5

Niese 4.0 Murphy 2.0 d'Arnaud 2.0 Clippard 1.0 Familia 1.0

EY Sr. an intentional interloper?