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Beltran could use a world championship and/or a few more postseasons to go beyond cult status where Greatest Ever territory is concerned. He's been in only four Octobers, which doesn't take away from his various rates of monster success but makes him, to a degree, more of a Pat Tabler than a, if you'll excuse the expression, Mickey Mantle in this realm. Which only matters if you're boosting Beltran for the Hall of Fame, I suppose. If he were to do what he's done in LDS and LCS play in even a couple of World Series for a couple of world champs, then he forever becomes a Winner who transcends his more earthly (if still impressive) regular seasons...and makes that last at-bat in 2006 more of a "I bet you didn't know there was actually this one time in a postseason situation where Beltran didn't come through."

When Richie Hebner heard there was going to be a procession involving his Pittsburgh Pirates, he immediately secured exclusive rights, for Hebner just assumed it was going to be a funeral, which would be very good for the family business. Alas, it was merely the 2013 non-championship parade, a somewhat less somber event for which the Pirates qualified on October 9, far later than has been their recent annual tradition. Ever the efficient mortician type, Hebner rounded up pallbearers anyway, including Wally Backman (who prefers ashes), Frank Thomas (who's used to carrying more than his share of the load) and Mackey Sasser (who they really shouldn't have asked to return the deceased to the earth, since he's not that skilled at getting things back from whence they came). Bobby Bonilla was asked to participate as well, but thought that was the funniest thing he'd heard since he was asked to accept highly lucrative payments for playing baseball long after he was done playing baseball.

I feel ya, Jeurys, for I, Pedro Feliciano, know how it is to fade from view. Gone in 2011. Gone in 2012. Working for the MFY dollar but not actually pitching in that dadburn uniform. Of course I came home to my Metsies, where I belonged. What a thrill to return to the Citi Field mound on August 2, 2013, for the first time since October 2, 2010, which was back in the era when I was pitching literally every other day...more than every other day, in fact. But what really got me going was our final afternoon on the road, September 25, at Great American Ball Park, going up against the Reds, the team that first traded me to Los Mets -- for Shawn Estes! -- in 2002. This was a game with actual playoff implications. Hell, I pitched in the last actual road playoff game the Mets played, so I knew what to do. I came on in relief of Daisuke Matsuzaka, I walked Shin-Soo Choo (maybe another former Red turned Met?) but then flied Joey Votto to center to end the eighth inning. I got my man, lefty vs. lefty, and held the fort until we had ourselves a 1-0 win. The Reds didn't take their division, thanks in part to our taking that game. They didn't get to host the Wild Card game. And their stay in the postseason was brief. I'd like to think I had a hand in that. A left hand, per usual.

�Yo soy Familia! �Yo tengo todos mis hermanas con mi! PDSSGyPurmE This Pirates thing has me in a Sister Sledge mood, but the only time I was part of a team celebration in 2013 was the night Wright took Kimbrel deep in Atlanta, May 3. I came in with us up 7-5 in tenth and set down Freeman, Gattis and Uggla all in ordder to earrn my firrst career savve. (Just a little gag there about the double-letters en los nombres de los Bravos.) Then I was out so long with an injury that one Mets fan, upon viewing a lifesize team picture at the All-Star FanFest, stared at No. 27 for the longest time and couldn't remember who wore it for hours. Then suddenly, he was all like, "Twenty-seven is Familia!" I hope to become more familia', if you will, to more fans in the years to come.

Andy Pafko, 92, who went as far back as he could in left at the Polo Grounds in the bottom of the ninth on October 3, 1951, but had no hope of catching a Shot that was about to be heard 'round the world. He would make it to the Series in 1952 with Brooklyn. Also a member of the Milwaukee Braves that won a World Series in 1957 and took the MFYs to seven games in 1958 -- and one of the last two surviving National League champion Cubs from 1945 or, for that matter, ever. Pafko had been traded to the Dodgers in '51 along with, among others, Rube Walker. Roger Kahn, in visiting with the Brooklyn Dodgers who became his Boys of Summer, surprised Pafko at lunch by asking him for his autograph. "Now for me," I said. "Don't kid me," Pafko said. "It's just nice being remembered." "I'm not kidding." I had been traveling with a glove, a Wilson A-2000,huge, $50 retail, more elaborate than any glove that had been designed when Pafko played in Brooklyn. "I'm asking everybody on the team to sign it, for a souvenir." Pafko looked at some signatures. Then he turned the glove over and wrote his name on the back. "I don't belong with those others," he said. "Thanks for a good club sandwich. Maybe I saved you a little money, huh? "Furillo, Snider and guys who could play like that, you oughta buy them the steaks."

Jason Tyner leads the Tampa Bay Rays contingent into the 2013 non-championship parade, but will eventually be replaced for ceremonial purposes before the conclusion of the parade everybody came out to see by Mike DiFelice. The Rays removed themselves from championship consideration on October 8. Most will derive unhappiness from the switch, but not smilin' Roberto Hernandez.

"And you thought Gene Walter was death on lefthanders."

dinosaur jesus wrote: These are all from late in his career. But he has to know he's talking bullshit, right? Reggie was 61 when he said he would've that one game by himself. By then, his latter-day failures had never occurred.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Never saw those East Meets West cards. Are those f'reals or an online mashup? Either way, nice job. Though it does remind me those BP caps with the skyline logo on the side were just giving up.

Confession: I loved Reggie Bars. They were quite tasty, which annoyed the Met-lovin' crap out of me. Gave me a surge of tooth pain once, which I decided served me right.

From Dana Brand's The Last Days of Shea: It's been a deep, dark secret, but I've always liked Reggie Jackson. I like ballplayers who are great and who get pleasure from the fact that they are great. We watched him come closer and then we saw him stop and look carefully at the big poster blow-up of the cover of my book that I had set up in front of me. "Mets Fan," he proclaimed. He looked at us. "You folks are Mets fans?" He stared at us and then asked, with a perfect sense of timing and emphasis, "WHAT HAPPENED?" We laughed as his entourage waited patiently for him to have the moment he had chosen to address people he didn't need to address. We scrambled in our minds for something to say to him in response. But we didn't need to do this. He had something to say and he wanted to say it. "What was it, they only needed to win one more game?" "Something like that," we ruefully mumbled. "You know," he said as if he was giving us the benefit of hard-earned wisdom, "people used to call me egotistical, but I will tell you, if I had been playing for them, I would have won that one game, even if I had to do it all by myself."

As Murakami, with a spring in his gait and a wad of chewing gum in his mouth, strode toward the Giant dugout, Met fans stood up and cheered. Organist Jane Jarvis got into the swing of things, playing "The Japanese Sandman". tef8RQF3XTU

The Mets had defied convention enough from 1962 to 1965 that "surprising" was probably the default setting for anything remotely unusual that happened around them. Note Murakami's music. Eat it, Rivera.

Also, a signature fight, which Bill Mazer audibly shakes his head over. FYuWIu-awvU Bill remembers a precedent from the ancient 1934 World Series. Strangely, 1934 was closer to 1973 than 1973 is to now.

Mets � Willets Point wrote: I was expecting to see Greg McMichael in this parade. "I sneered at the request to take part."

Reasons to root for the Red Sox: * The current squad are all good guys with no oversized egos or ridonculous contracts. Exception that proves the rule?

During Reggie's first year in New York, the MFYs were home on an off day so Jackson spent his evening at Shea Stadium causing a mild stir watching the Mets beat the Cardinals. The attraction, he said, was his Arizona State landsman Lenny Randle, but I recall a quote coming out of his surprise appearance that sure he would've liked to have been a Met, but they didn't pursue him, or something like that. Free agent Oriole Reggie Jackson, 1976, was reincarnated as disgruntled Dodger Mike Piazza, 1998, and at least we went for it the next time someone of that gaudy ilk came around. (Not that gaudy ilk has always been avoided or always worked out -- I'm thinking with hindsight here.) Recall an article in (I think) the Daily News in the last 15 or so years that caught up with Chilcott and emphasized, much as Dino said, he was very much a top prospect for whom fate had other plans. Then again, I just found this wire story from 1966 and shuddered: The Mets, always full of surprises, pulled another one yesterday when they selected 17-year-old catcher Steve Chilcott of Lancaster, Calif., as the No. 1 pick in major league baseball's annual draft. The Mets, who earned the right to select first because of their low standing in the majors last season, were expected to go for classy outfielder Reggie Jackson of Arizona State, but chose Chilcott, who batted .500 for his high school team last year. "Batted .500 for his high school team" sounds very damning knowing what we know 47 years later, as if to say, "His high school team played Wiffle Ball only." Casey (who had a thing for catchers, whether they were his man Mr. Berra or the first pick in a different kind of draft, Hobie Landrith) did like him some Chilcott after the fact, but nothing contemporary indicates he did or didn't want Jackson.

The non-championship parade route is well-established. At some point in early autumn it takes a predictable turn down Peachtree Street, and sure enough, in 2013, the perennial non-champion Atlanta Braves make their anticipated appearance. Let's see who's leading their contingent this year after they were eliminated in the NLDS on October 7. Why, it's Braves righty Gary Gentry, who earns cheers for his performance in the 1969 playoffs! I'm being handed a note that explains Gentry wasn't a Brave then and the Braves didn't win a championship that year, but isn't that the way it generally goes here in Atlanta? Falling in line behind Gentry is beloved Brave Matt Franco, who played a pivotal role in Atlanta's success...no, it seems there wasn't any kind of extraordinary success attached to Franco's Brave career, but he's earning hearty applause nonetheless. And finally, a pair of highly decorated Braves closers come marching in: Alejandro Pe�a and Jeff Reardon, each wearing the world championship ring...oh, my producer tells me that's just a reflection from the light, that there was no world championship ring earned by either of them during their time in Atlanta. But in terms of non-championship parade arrivals among the 2013 league division series participants, the Braves have come in first yet again. Give 'em all a big hand! But don't be showy about it. The Braves frown on that sort of thing. The Braves frown a lot these days.

Baseball 4 Monday 0

FK3tklU31MY Al Albert handling Mets Wrapup duties this Sunday, leaving Bill Mazer time to prepare for Sports Extra on Channel 5.

Out for 2014.

Tommy John surgery for the Schaefer Pitcher of the Year, SNY reports.

FWIW, Murph's Schaefer pointage per game played was .666, David's was .674, Byrd's was .692. Harvey's was 3.21, including for his PH appearance, though with pitchers it's a different ballgame (which I guess is a pun). You've stumbled upon my long-forgotten stat, the Schaefer Refreshment Index. i think you could also look at sip rate, or percentage of games played in which a player recieved schaefer votes. I actually did that one year for my own voting. The king of the gulp, as it were, was Pedro Martinez: 5 starts, points in all five. That was 2007, when he didn't pitch until Sigh-ptember.

FWIW, Murph's Schaefer pointage per game played was .666, David's was .674, Byrd's was .692. Harvey's was 3.21, including for his PH appearance, though with pitchers it's a different ballgame (which I guess is a pun).

Well deserved for Murph, Matt & Hawk. JV1...not a lot of competition on that bench, eh? If this team is going to compete, it really needs more good players. (Some scouting report that is.) Beautiful cardwork by Grimm. Still in awe of the Boyhood bit. Thank you for your diligent spreadsheeting. I enjoy the voting still. Not a single fraction of a point for Collin McHugh, who deserves at least an asterisk for bringing over an imminent SB champ.