G-Fafif

Standout portrayals. Jeurys at Shea and the hatless look for David when one would figure there wouldn't be much more to do with Wright after so many cards.

Zim's eyes pretty much offer a scouting report of the '62 Mets.

...

Wheeler 4.0 Granderson 2.5 den Dekker 0.5

Zvon wrote: Could you picture Murphy as a crossing guard? I try and I see only disaster. Tragedy was narrowly averted this morning in a traditionally quiet Jacksonville neighborhood, where a young elementary school crossing guard misread signals, hesitated in the face of onrushing traffic, couldn't quite make up his mind about what to do next and nearly ran a stream of speeding vehicles into his fellow students who, an eyewitness reported, "were just trying to cross the street safely." Ultimately everything worked out, observers agreed, because the beloved local boy of agreeable ethnic descent "worked so hard and never quit hustling."

Assuming our nutrition-conscious First Lady discouraged the honoring of the Mets' 103-cheesesteak record. I'm sure Dave Racaniello would've presented the President with a grease-stained jersey.

Just one Met for now: Papa Daniel Murphy. When his wife Tori went into labor on March 31, Daniel Murphy knew exactly where he had to be. The Mets second baseman left New York, rushing back to Florida to be with her for the birth of their first child instead of being at Citi Field for the Mets Opening Day against the Nationals. While that decision, forcing Murphy to miss the first two games of the season, brought an outcry from some fans and two well-known New York sports talk radio hosts, it also brought the spotlight on some of the difficult choices that working fathers are forced to make. That has opened the door for Murphy to be an advocate for working fathers. Monday, Murphy will speak about that experience at the White House. As part of a discussion of working fathers, Murphy will speak about having his very personal family moment exploited in the public eye as part of a day of discussion leading-up to a White House Summit on Working Families, June 23, according to a White House official. �It�s an honor and it�s humbling,� Murphy said of speaking not as a baseball player, but as a dad. �Tori was very excited about this and so there was not much of choice: we were going to do this. �It�s exciting.� He will be among several high-ranking administration officials who are working dads and who will also share their experiences, including Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors Jason Furman, according to the White House official. Murphy�s decision to return to Florida for his son�s Noah�s birth was met with not just a firestorm of criticism, but also an outpouring of support. Fans on Twitter and callers to WFAN sent words of support and congratulations to the Murphys and pointed out that fathers too play a crucial part in raising children. At the time, Mets� Sandy Alderson staunchly defended the decision for Murphy to make use of MLB�s paternity leave, saying he was happy that Murphy could be there for the child�s birth. �It was a time that we leaned on each other and leaned on Jesus,� said Murphy of dealing with the publicity surrounding his decision. �Through the fire He molds you. So we came out of it stronger. �And we came out of it as a family,� Murphy said breaking into a huge smile, �we came out of it with a beautiful son.� The purpose of the day of discussion which Murphy will take part is for a number of leading experts, working dads, business leaders and Administration officials to share their insights and explore the roles dads play today at home, according to the White House official. They will discuss the challenges dads face balancing career and family, and how both businesses and working families benefit from progressive workplace policies.

Yeah, I've never quite gotten how Women's Wear Daily covers stuff that isn't what women wear daily, but they do.

Joe Posnanski's lyricism can obscure the fact that he's a world-class explainer. And in this piece, he explains how the A's go about their stubbornly winning way, with neither the writer nor the subject leaning on Moneyball cliches. The A's face the same pressures, the same groupthink, the same visual cues as everyone else. They have the same gut reactions to events, and they initially want to respond in the same way as everyone else. To say that they are smarter than everyone else misses the biggest point. The biggest point is this: Nobody's that smart -- not even the A's. They have to work just as hard as anybody to avoid the traps, address their weaknesses, overcome the silly flaws in their System One thinking. They have to call up Josh Donaldson when brains tell them not to call him up. They have to pitch Tommy Milone even though they see that nothing fastball and can't figure out how he can get anyone out. See, the A's are not a testament to genius. They are a testament to doggedly stopping themselves from making the mistakes everyone else makes. In other words: Everybody knows. The Oakland A's do.

Roger Angell rejects poet-laureate laurels in WWD. �I�m not writing poetry. That sounds as if I�m doing no reporting, and that�s not the truth. If you do enough reporting, then you don�t have to gush about the emerald field, the white streak of the ball, and that.� Worthwhile profile by Sridhar Pappu here.

Flores 3.0 Colon 2.5 den Dekker 2.0 Wright 1.0 Eveland 0.5 Duda 0.5 Granderson 0.5

980. Dana Eveland

Juan officially (as opposed to ceremonially) to DL. den Dekker back from the airport.

These "exclusives" seem to be doled out right around the moment the Mets need to change the conversation (though, to be fair, when is that not the case?). The Star-Ledger article at the top of this thread appeared on Opening Day when the prevailing Spring Training story was how much the Mets were going to suck. This DiComo piece -- which positioned Hudgens as a trusted steward of The System -- came together in the wake of the Mets' uninspiring start (though ran after a pretty road swing). Now Carig's runs on the heels of the hitting coach switch. The predominant message continues to be "don't necessarily believe what you see in front of you, always believe what we tell you about what's coming...it's gonna be awesome." If you're predisposed to buy into what this regime has to say because its administrators seem to know what they're doing, it's more proof that the right track has been reached. If you process everything the Alderson group says as puffery for their own genius and are left pining for results, it's smoke blown right up the ol' Aase.

Edgy MD wrote: I'd certainly be tempted to at least send den Dekks out there and slide Young over to left. den Dekker was removed from the roster in deference to Eveland's presence. Might be restored in light of Lagares's potential injury. They didn't fly him out of Philly right away.

"What an asshole." = "Jeter's all about the bottom line."

CYoung FOR CHRIS YOUNG; EYoung FOR ERIC YOUNG Box. Niese 4.0 Duda 3.0 Black 1.0 Edgin 1.0 Granderson 0.5 Campbell 0.5

Carlyle 2.5 deGrom 2.0 Wright 1.5 Tejada 1.5 Abreu 1.0 Duda 1.0 Matsuzaka 0.5

Buddy Carlyle's first MLB game was won on a pinch sac fly off the bat of Dave Magadan, the star of the Mets' third division clincher. So he's been around.

Abreu 1.5 Duda 1.0 d'Arnaud 1.0 Tejada 1.0 Torres 1.0 Black 1.0 Edgin 1.0 Familia 1.0 Rice 0.5 Wright 0.5

Wheeler 4.0 CYoung 2.0 Lagares 1.0 Mejia 1.0 Black 1.0 Rice 0.5 Duda 0.5

Colon 4.5 Wright 2.5 Duda 1.5 Familia 1.0 Murphy 0.5

Lagares 2.5 Niese 2.0 Mejia 1.5 Black 1.0 Tejada 1.0 Murphy 1.0 Granderson 0.5 Abreu 0.5

Pittsburgh's ROOT Sports reports I couldn't be more excited by this win.

Since May 3 in Coors Field, Mets' only games with output of more than 5 runs have been the two in MFYS III. Good idea to bring in a new hitting coach on the eve of the trip to CBP. A little bandboxing never hurts the image of the offense.