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Could be the new thing at Initech. [youtube:1ofpmo35]8p8Ni1sXBLk[/youtube:1ofpmo35]

Majestic Athletic Partners with Philadelphia Phillies to Announce Phillies Jersey Day Presented by Majestic Athletic' on Friday, May 2nd Jersey Giant & Philadelphia Phillies Pair Up To Launch Team Pride Celebration in Philadelphia. Jersey Giant apparel here.

You should read Pat Jordan's profile of Buck Showalter in Sports On Earth. Makes an unlovable caricature into a likable character. Another thing Showalter harps on is that it's the players' job to respect their fans. Again, some get it, and some don't. To the players who don't get it, the fans' purpose is simply to worship them and pay their salaries. But Showalter is devoted to the fans, always recalling his years in the minor leagues as a player, coach and manager. Those parks are small, the fans close to the action. They can talk to the players in the on-deck circle, the manager standing in the dugout, the coach at third base. Those fans feel that they're part of the team, close to the players in a way that major league fans, at a distant remove, never are. When Showalter finally got to the majors, he brought with him his respect for the fans. When the Orioles were playing a meaningless game in Seattle one night, Showalter hounded his players to play hard, because "it's 12:30 at night back in Baltimore," he said. "Somebody's sitting in front of the TV, dying with everything you're doing. And you better take that seriously."

Frayed Knot wrote: Never mind the forecast 'cause the sky has lost control

Rubin directly (as opposed to passive-aggressively) provides his take. Mets marketers apparently are alarmed. With Citi Field mostly empty in April and a Facebook study suggesting Mets fans are even outnumbered in Queens, team personnel awkwardly sent out an email blast asking �True New Yorkers� to sign a letter supporting the team. Fans were asked to write a positive note that may be presented to the players. It was signed, presumably under duress, by members of the '69 and '86 Mets. Forget the minor league stuff. Want to build a fan base? Here are five simple steps: 5. Stop embarrassing yourselves. The letter might have yielded some new contacts for ticket salesmen, but it came off as amateurish. Which is how the Mets come off far too often. By insisting Matt Harvey was not a story, the Mets made Matt Harvey a story. Hopefully they�re not pushing Harvey toward the Bronx when he�s a free agent during the 2018-19 offseason, too. Feel secure and stop overreacting to little things. 4. Embrace your history. Mookie Wilson clearly opened a nerve within the organization when he described himself as a �hood ornament� in his newly released memoir. At first blush, Mookie�s criticism might seem ridiculous. After all, Tim Teufel is the third-base coach, Ron Darling, Keith Hernandez and Bobby Ojeda work for SNY, Wally Backman manages the Triple-A team, Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden have at least casual presences, and Mookie himself twice served on the coaching staff. But it long has been a criticism of the '86 Mets that they�re held at arm�s length, even if their visibility has increased and that chatter mostly has receded. We all know the Mets had to be dragged kicking and screaming into adorning Citi Field with blue and orange and into adding a team museum after the first season in the new ballpark. The Mets recently wore seven different jerseys in seven games, including military fatigues. No one is saying don�t honor the military, but you wouldn't see the Yankees eschewing their tradition to wear camouflage. Many fans cynically viewed it as a money grab. 3. Spend money to make money. Want to energize your fan base? Spend some damn money. That doesn�t mean doling out six- and seven-year contracts. How much better would the current team be with the likes of even modest additions, such as Stephen Drew, Joel Hanrahan, LaTroy Hawkins and others who would only bring the payroll to a still-modest $110 million or $120 million rather than its current $86 million? 2. Play the kids. This is not a slam against 40-year-old Bobby Abreu. He may very well help the Mets win games. But there was a myth forever in these parts that you couldn't build from within. Play Juan Lagares. Bring up Jacob deGrom. Stop looking at arbitration clocks and give the fans what they want to see. 1. Win. If you're a kid growing up now, sure your parents may indoctrinate you into the family tradition of being a Mets fan. But for the independent thinkers, the Mets are losing a whole generation of followers because of their lack of success. The Mets entered 2014 with consecutive collapses, then five straight losing seasons. That is tied with the Houston Astros for the longest active streak of losing seasons. Want young fans? Win. Say it three more times: Want young fans? Win. Want young fans? Win. Want young fans? Win.

Niese 4.0 Murphy 2.5 Tejada 2.5 Satin 1.0

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Are there any actual cards in that box? batmagadanleadoff wrote: There aren't any cards in the box. Missed that nugget amid the graphics. Thanks.

Are there any actual cards in that box?

Eric Young, Jr. � LF Daniel Murphy � 2B David Wright � 3B Chris Young � CF Curtis Granderson � RF Josh Satin � 1B Travis d�Arnaud � C Ruben Tejada � SS Jonathon Niese � LHP

Mets attempt to sell tickets and True New Yorker t-shirts that are probably piling up given Curtis Granderson's .129 batting average by pulling on the ol' heartstrings. No better time to rally support than when you're several games above break-even. To True New Yorkers - The victory you earn is sweeter than the victory you're given. When we won in '69 and '86, we, the players, didn't do it on our own. We made history together -- players and fans -- through a gritty, even stubborn, belief in this club against all the odds. When we've won, we've proved through the way we did it that true New Yorkers are Mets fans. So today we're issuing a call to all Mets fans: Show your New York Mets pride -- stand up and say you're a true New Yorker. As players, we can tell you that what happens in the clubhouse and what happens in the stands -- players and fans together, believing in each other -- makes a tremendous difference with what happens on the field. Your support matters; we wouldn't have won without you. So we're calling on you to give today's club the same chance we had. If you agree that the fans have a role to play in making amazing things happen, add your name to this letter: Mets.com/TrueNewYorker One fan -- maybe you -- will present the signatures on this letter and the messages from fans to the team, before the Mets' first Subway Series game at Citi Field. If you add your name, it could be you. We'll see you there. Let's Go Mets! -- Keith Hernandez, Ron Darling, Cleon Jones, Ed Charles, Jerry Koosman, and Doc Gooden

We're No. 1 at being No. 2 in a whole bunch of places, according to the Times's second-place map. Congratulations to us?

Rohan wrote one of the great Met features of recent years just as he latched onto the beat late in 2013 about the guy who delivers the mail within Citi Field.

Gee 5.0 Wright 1.5 CYoung 1.5 Duda 1.0 Murphy 0.5 Torres 0.5

Box. Abreu 2.0 Quintanilla 1.5 Duda 1.0 Rice 0.5 Wright 0.5 Familia 0.5 Matsuzaka 0.5 Mejia 0.5 EYoung 0.5

Mets and MFYs have same 13-10 record, though I wouldn't use such a decrepit organization as a yardstick for our team's resurgence.

Paul DePodesta, allegedly a tool regarding the last Mets champions, according to Puma of the Post. To understand the underlying tension between the Mets� current front office regime and the 1986 Mets, you only need revert to spring training three years ago in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Paul DePodesta, then in his first months as the Mets� vice president of player development and amateur scouting, stood in front of the assembled minor league staff for his first meeting and, according to a witness, dropped a grenade that still reverberates through the organization. �I�m tired of hearing about the �86 Mets,� DePodesta told the staff, according to the witness. Mookie Wilson, then about to begin his second stint as the Mets first base coach, certainly knew about the comment. Just about any member of that fabled world championship team who still had contact with the organization at the time heard about the comment. Regardless of the intent, many of the �86 Mets took it as a sign of disrespect from one of general manager Sandy Alderson�s top lieutenants. As one of the �86 Mets said Friday: �All those championship teams [DePodesta] played on at Harvard.� Said another member of the �86 Mets, referring to Alderson�s Oakland pedigree: �Those guys, the last time they had a good team, we were playing.� So maybe it should come as little surprise that Wilson takes shots at the Alderson regime in his soon-to-be released autobiography, �Mookie: Life, Baseball and the �86 Mets.� Wilson, upset he was never given an explanation for his firing as first base coach following the 2011 season, states he has become a �hood ornament� within the Mets organization as a team ambassador. He also gives his opinion of the Alderson regime in the one season he witnessed up close. �I felt like I was watching the deterioration of the Mets organization,� Wilson writes. �They seemed to have no identity.� And Wilson states there�s no room for any member of the �86 Mets in a position of authority within the Alderson regime. You would take that to mean the manager�s office or front office, given that Tim Teufel became the third base coach under Alderson�s watch. In reality, what difference does it make? The �86 Mets are certainly well-represented elsewhere within the organization, and Alderson has been entrusted with building a winner, not worrying about how the Mets� glorious past is honored. But the rift between the �86 Mets and this front office might come down to the fact Alderson has failed to produce a team with even a winning record since his arrival after the 2010 season. All the while, the �86 Mets feel as if they have been marginalized. �If they would have come in here and turned this thing around, it might be a different feeling,� said a member of the �86 Mets. �At this point they are still betting on the next roll.� The same player questioned whether Alderson, DePodesta and special assistant J.P. Ricciardi have an understanding about the love affair between Mets fans and the iconic �86 team. �New York fans are the most passionate there are in the world and they take sports heroes to heart,� the player said. �There is an emotional attachment and I don�t know if those guys have that kind of history with the fans.� For his part, DePodesta denies saying in a staff meeting he was tired of hearing about the �86 Mets. �I have reverence for the �86 Mets,� DePodesta said in a text message. �I have too much respect for everything that has come before me in every organization I�ve been in to say something like that.� But many of the �86 Mets don�t want to hear it. When one player was asked if there is a disconnect between that world championship team and this front office, his first comment was, �You know what DePodesta said, right?� It doesn�t make Mookie Wilson right in his attack on the front office, but maybe lends some perspective to the situation. I would guess -- purely a guess -- that "tired of hearing about the '86 Mets" meant "it's time we create a new championship legacy" or something like that. I can remember as the '86 team was building toward its destiny a little bit of "enough about '69" emanating from the then-current players who wanted to supplant or at least match their predecessors. But if true, it's a stupid thing to say and a stupid attitude to have. Even if it's a matter of lip service, the franchise you serve existed before you came along and is built on its champions, particularly when there are only two. You know goddamn well "I don't want to hear about the '82 Cardinals" was never said by anybody working for the Cardinals. Doesn't mean the top 24 positions in the organization needed to be filled by everybody from Carter and Hernandez to Niemann and Sisk. Doesn't mean Mookie Wilson was a better first base coach than Tom Goodwin. Just means don't stay stupid stuff like that. As for the unnamed '86 players, I assume it's a combination of Darling, Ojeda and HoJo. The latter is always disgruntled, the middle is jaundiced in his take on most things and that Harvard crack had to have come from the Yalie. Sounds like him.

Wheeler 3.0 Quintanilla 1.5 Nieuwenhuis 1.5 Duda 1.0 Granderson 1.0 Familia 0.5 EYoung 0.5 Wright 0.5 Murphy 0.5

Young, Jr. � 7 Granderson � 9 Wright � 5 Murphy � 4 Young � 8 Duda � 3 d�Arnaud � 2 Tejada � 6 Wheeler � 1

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I did see the Mets coming in third in a couple of zip codes along Florida's East Coast. Palm Bay, Fla., you are a tertiary bastion of good taste! (Not all that close to PSL, but we'll take fellow travelers where we can get them.)

Benjamin Grimm wrote: By drifting my mouse pointer over the Long Island part of the map, it seems that 11554, East Meadow NY, is the most Metly zip code, at 30 per cent. The zip code I grew up in, 11788 (Hauppauge) is 58 per cent Evil Empire, 25 per cent Mets, 6 per cent Red Sox. Things have changed; when I was a kid just about everyone was a Mets fan. The few Yankee fans in the neighborhood were anomalies. We had Tom Seaver, they had Mel Stottlemyre. Bellmore gets it up to 33% Mets, which is as high as I've been able to find. As far as geographic outliers, I found a few Zips in Delaware and Vermont where the Mets come in third (with like 3%). A little Pa. action as well in that regard. But w/o having gone through the whole USA, it doesn't seem as if there's a hidden hotbed of Mets fans outside the tri-state by this metric. Checked Fresno, Virginia Beach, Las Vegas, St. Lucie -- anywhere where you'd think there might be some idiosyncratic reason to remain beholden to the Mets. Nada. I live in 58-25 territory. Sadly, I could've guessed that.

The Red Sox "outlike" the Mets in the Polo Grounds Zip Code, for crissake (10-7; MFYs 60). And it's 61-14-4 (MFY-Mets-Sox) where Ebbets Field stood.

Colon 4.0 Matsuzaka 1.0 Murphy 1.0 CYoung 1.0 EYoung 1.0 Rice 1.0 Granderson 0.5 Abreu 0.5

Niese 3.5 Duda 2.0 d'Arnaud 1.5 Nieuwenhuis 1.0 Tejada 1.0 Matsuzaka 0.5 Rice 0.5

No EY. CY moves to LF. Nieuwy in CF. Lagares on DL. Andres Torres considered at large. Nieuwenhuis � 8 Granderson � 9 Wright � 5 Murphy � 4 CYoung � 7 Duda � 3 d�Arnaud � 2 Tejada � 6 Niese � 1

Gee 2.5 Germen 1.0 Quintanilla 0.5