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Heel-clicking villain Ron Santo.

Bad Henry. Aaron, that is.

Bench was part of some fine batteries, but the Mose reliable battery in Detroit was Alkaline...uh, Al Kaline.

Greatest baseball furniture ever: Bench, Johnny.

If we're counting managers, Senators skipper Ted Williams.

The HOF is Mr. Ryan's Neighborhood, so Nolan.

Retired in the spring, but it didn't mean a thing to Topps...Mickey Mantle.

Ernie Banks. Let's post two!

Willie McCovey

Keith sounds not so much drunk but that he took three Aleve before coming on the air.

Not sure if Lefty Specialist is lying in the weeds as he did Wednesday, waiting for things to turn in the Metsies' favor before starting the thread, but in the meantime, 2-0 Tribe, top of third, Kazmir striking out everybody in sight...which was supposed to mean good news for said Metsies, but that was a long time ago.

Rice's emergence is the feelgood story of the year, at least until it's revealed it was juicing that gave him the little something extra on his fastball that he needed to break through.

Fine story inside. Best tidbit: the pastor who buys a ten-pack of Pirates tix every season but only for games early in the year because he knows people are giving them away by September. Nobody's giving them away this September. And he doesn't mind at all.

Henn, Feliciano, Byrdak. None may be as effective as Rice has been (in 2013) but we are certainly armed from the left side for the vital remaining two dozen games.

He'll have Rice with that hernia. Scottso out for surgery rest of year, it is reported. Down to three Mets who have been on roster since OD, though I'm not sure if the durable lefty will be moved to DL given that it's September: Murphy, Gee, Hawkins.

seawolf17 wrote: Harris used his Veteran Influence to remind Reyes to step out of the dugout a good 10 minutes after the game was over and greet his public. A good-sized cadre (how many in a cadre?) had gathered nearby waiting for one more peek and Willie/Jose rewarded them. He gave a very nice salute and received a very nice cheer. Witnessing it from behind the first base seats where I stood chatting with some other hopeless dead-enders took some of the sting out of his early exit in the there and then. (The bunt was fine; the vamoose was dopey.) I was at the final home game of 1998, part of the five-game losing streak that sealed that season's Wild Cardless fate. As Piazza batted late, I was thinking this could be his last at-bat as a Met, as he wasn't signed for next year and word and logic had it that he'd want to test the free agent market. Then I thought, "Nah, he's coming back." And he did. I believed something similar when Reyes waved from the dugout. "They'll figure something out." They didn't. I wasn't surprised in a granular sense, but the big-picture decision still floors me. Anyway, still beloved by me. One poorly choreographed exit < nine wonderful seasons. Doesn't mean I'm running to pick up all of what's left of that contract, but after four months of riding the Quintnailla Express to nowhere (it doesn't make good time despite bypassing the seemingly abandoned Rubenville station), I'd be happy to have him back. Or Jose Vizcaino at this point.

I won Hawkins's 1976 card flipping when I was in seventh grade. "Man," I thought, "I get this old guy every year."

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Found it! And that's from the 1969 set. So Topps poorly airbrushed a 7-year-old photo? Phenomenon explored here.

Edgy MD wrote: Check out that thread on Laggy's arm. We have the best of a lot of things, depending on how broadly or narrowly you define "things." If we stay away from W-L records, we certainly have it goin' on.

No better broadcasters than ours. Anthony DiComo with a fine profile of Gary, Keith, Ron and Guys! Talk to industry types about Cohen, Hernandez and Darling, and the conversation inevitably drifts to chemistry. It seems obvious now, 7 1/2 years after the network's launch, that the three of them genuinely like one another. But understand that this did not necessarily have to work; at its birth in 2006, SNY was at risk of all the same pitfalls that can hamper local broadcasts. Gowdy's mission at the time was to hire a team that could "educate, enlighten and entertain," in his words, and his first stop was Hernandez. Wanting a former player with whom the fan base was familiar, Gowdy turned to a man who had been contributing color commentary to Mets broadcasts since 1999. Hernandez represented Gold Gloves and "Seinfeld" cameos and local glitz. He was an obvious choice. The next piece was Cohen, who grew up rooting for the Mets, began calling games alongside Bob Murphy in the radio booth in 1989, and did so comfortably for the next decade and a half. Murphy's retirement allowed Cohen to score his dream job as lead radio play-by-play man in 2004, which lasted two seasons. That is when SNY came calling, and despite an affinity for radio, Cohen could not say no. Darling's hire was more unexpected. In what he remembers as a frustrating year commentating on Nationals games for the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, feeling stunted in his growth as a fledgling broadcaster, Darling impressed Gowdy with an analytical side that did not always translate well on camera. Watching tape of Darling's MASN broadcasts shortly after his hire, Picker remembers being "stunned" by how much work he thought Darling needed. Seven years later, the producer says, "I have never worked with an announcer who has improved as dramatically and as quickly as Ron." Prior to its second season, SNY filled out its core staff by hiring Kevin Burkhardt as its sideline reporter -- a job Burkhardt has, in some ways, modernized through his seamless booth communication and textured reporting, both from the home and visiting clubhouses. Cohen, Hernandez, Darling, Picker and director Bill Webb are now in their eighth season as a team, with Burkhardt there for seven, giving the broadcast uncommon fluidity. Often, they dine as a group on the road. They log hours together before and after games. "I think there have been plenty of people in this industry that don't like each other, yet still have good broadcasts," Burkhardt said. "But us, our whole crew that travels, we all see each other way more than we see our families or friends. So the fact that we all really like each other is a big bonus." The group also believes such chumminess translates to television, freeing each member -- and it's a clich�, they freely acknowledge -- to be himself. If that means Hernandez launching into a discussion about who mows his lawn, so be it. If that means Darling running down next year's Oscar contenders, all the better. If that means guest analyst Ralph Kiner drifting into a half-century-old anecdote, fantastic.

Garth the Padre appears to be Zvonesque fantasy, though it looks good. The OSU version is good exploitation -- and reminscent of the Partridge Family cards.

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Based on spring training games, I'm surprised Garth Brooks never got a card!

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Remember when his nickname was "Radio Gaga"? I remember hearing Ralph Kiner talking about "Radio Gaga" and thinking that he was even less hip than I was. Not an easy feat. I do not remember that!

I'd like to hear more about this...claw? CRAW! [youtube:1sxnylsp]ftgAG3Vnif8[/youtube:1sxnylsp]