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50 Years Ago Thursday, 9/5/1963, STL 9 NYM 0 @ oldest Busch Stadium E. Kranepool 2 T. Harkness 12 R. Hunt 8 J. Hickman 27 P. Green 12 D. Smith 0 Cannizzaro 0 A. Moran 1 G. Powell 0 TOTAL: 62 A new low!

50 Years Ago yesterday: 9/2/1963, second game of Labor Day doubleheader @ PG, Reds 1 Mets 0 Hickman 27 Carmel 4 Hunt 8 Harkness 11 Hicks 11 Coleman 8 Schreiber 0 Moran 1 Hook 0 70: Better than 9/2/2013, not quite down to 8/31/1963's standards.

Found one, from just over 50 years ago, 8/31/1963: Christopher 8 Kanehl 5 Hunt 8 Gonder 7 Hickman 26 Harkness 9 Carmel 3 Moran 0 Willey 2 That's 68 home runs entering that Saturday's showdown versus the Milwaukee Braves at the Polo Grounds. Al Moran chose this game to blast his only Met home run to up the lineup's total directly after the fact to 69. The Mets lost anyway, 4-3. Before that, lineups always included somebody like Gil Hodges, Frank Thomas, Duke Snider (who Casey used to PH vs. Spahn), Charlie Neal, Jimmy Piersall...not much future but a powerful past.

The Mets lineup on Labor Day 2013 totaled 73 major league home runs in its collective career. Young 7 Murphy 36 Satin 2 Brown 10 Lagares 4 Turner 6 Flores 1 Recker 7 Matsuzaka 0 Have no idea where this stands in Met acoustic annals, but it has to be down there. Taking a stab at precedent, I went to everybody's favorite power-free year, 1980, and the same date, which included two kids fresh off the farm (HR totals to date, entering 9/2/1980). Wilson 0 Taveras 2 Mazzilli 53 Washington 56 Henderson 34 Maddox 18 Trevi�o 0 Backman 0 Pacella 0 Even spotting them two callups, the least powerful Met of all time in terms of most ABs with the club producing 0 HR and the pitcher...163 HR in that lineup, or 90 more than yesterday. Two nights later, Brooks, also new, was in for Maddox, so subtract Elliott's 18. Youngblood, with 29, replaced Washington, for a net loss of of 27. Mike Scott pitched and was no more powerful a hitter than John Pacella. And you still have 118. Could the Mets have fielded a lineup with less power than yesterday?

Lutz 1.5 Byrdak 1.0 Matsuzaka 0.5 Black 0.5 Lagares 0.5 Recker 0.5 Satin 0.5 Duda 0.5 Murphy 0.5 Young 0.5

964. Vic Black

Young LF Murphy 2B Satin 1B Brown RF Lagares CF Turner SS Flores 3B Recker C The Dice Man zzzz...P

The Mets take on nemesis Paul Maholm. The Braves face Daisuke Matsuzaka, who is his own worst enemy, as well as that of those who enjoy crisply played baseball games. America flocking to Atlanta in time for 1:05 PM start after witnessing Mets on ESPN2 Sunday night and becoming completely hooked on them to the point where they need to see them every 14 or so hours.

Niese 2.5 Murphy 2.0 Duda 1.5 Young 1.5 den Dekker 1.0 Lagares 0.5

ARiiO_41Id8 Aaron Harang was busy doing something close to nothing, no different from the day before. So now he's wearing a a Las Vegas 51s beret and will probably be fitted for the Mets kind shortly thereafter, according to -- who else? -- Adam Rubin.

By this analysis in SB Nation's Beyond the Box Score, The Alderson Group is on a roll and ready to take the Mets to new heights, having made essentially no mistakes since the fall of 2010. Every bit of information concerning these players constitutes useful for the present and the future, and allowing them to grow and sometimes flourish on a grand scale can provide the front office with useful knowledge. Front offices know more about their own players than other teams' players because they can see and interact with them at any moment, which implies that, when rebuilding, most of the process will be done internally. While the Mets continued to nurture and develop top talents like Wheeler, d'Arnaud, and Syndergaard, the organization put effort into better understanding and developing players from all talent tiers. This quality of the Mets organization has been a huge part of their philosophy that could one day lead them to becoming a winning team once again. Maybe Brown, Satin, and Hefner won't become everyday players, but knowing exactly what they can provide could help the Mets fill important positions in Triple-A, on the bench at the MLB level, and in the bullpen. Organizations are like living beings, every part matters, and the Mets seem to have taken on that as an internal attitude. The Mets have won three in a row. I'll believe anything, including that there's something amazing about playing spare parts when you don't have better options.

Eric Young tops this countdown: Eric Young, Jr. - LF Daniel Murphy - 2B Josh Satin - 3B Lucas Duda - 1B Travis d'Arnaud - C Juan Lagares - RF Matt den Dekker - CF Omar Quintanilla - SS Jonathon Niese - LHP And comin' in at No. 38...Vic Black.

Either way, America is getting psyched for EYJ! I'm psyched every night, though I might take a psyched-breather between 9 and 10 for Breaking Bad.

Vic Black is the new Marlon Byrd. Actually, ESPN is promoting the Mets as led by Eric Young, Jr., which is true in a batting order sense.

Wheeler 2.0 Quintanilla 1.5 Satin 1.5 Murphy 1.0 Young 1.0 Lagares 1.0 d'Arnaud 1.0 den Dekker 0.5 Davis 0.5

So many media outlets say they'll shy away from making reference to the Redskins this fall. I imagine there'll be no similar soul-searching needed regarding the use of "Nationals" come October.

Hope Lucas embraces the confidence the organization might show in him by reluctantly allowing him to temporary replace the .205-hitting first baseman in whom they have limited faith.

Jack Mack & The Heart Attack a) have "& the" action going on; make the "& the" part something more than "& the something or other band" or "& the traditional plurals"; and c) dare to rhyme like crazy right there on the marquee. May Vic Black relack(s) us in the late innings ahead.

I'm provisionally pretending this is payback for the sweep at Shea in September 2007.

As a USF Bull, I'm not fond of the Florida Gators, to put it mildly. But I'll make an exception for Matt den Dekker.

Spanning the globe doesn't help the Nats. Denard dives, Omar drives in two!

They're not fucking going away, are they?

Washington's fading wild card chances rest tonight on these slender shoulders: Span 8 Zimmerman 5 Harper 7 Werth 9 Desmond 6 LaRoche 3 Ramos 2 Lombardozzi 4 Haren 1

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: I like that he's exploring a little bit with the two-centerfielder formation and whatnot. This adventurousness... it's... exciting. I haven't been this excited since Beltran and Cameron both went after the same ball! (Gotta stop defaulting to the worst possible precedent.)

Edgy MD wrote: Vic Black and the Heart Attack expected to join the Mets Sunday as rosters expand. Let's celebrate! n1mduF-m-68