G-Fafif

Pitched against the Mets, as unlikely as that sounds.

Now starring David Wright.

This happened in April (April 10...or 10 April, depending where you are), not March. The book came out the first week of the season.

Anthony di'Como carries forth party line that v'Aldy's a bad boy who's no good for us, but has talent. Last August, after he wore a T-shirt to the clubhouse in clear violation of the team's self-imposed dress code, his teammates stole the shirt from his locker, cut tassels into it and wrote on it as a way of teaching him a lesson. An enraged Valdespin began screaming at his teammates when he discovered the altered shirt, complaining later that he felt disrespected. In those ways and others, he demands attention. If Valdespin notices a photographer shooting pictures during batting practice, he often turns toward the camera and poses. When he hits home runs, he grows animated as he jogs the bases. It all runs counter to baseball's unspoken expectation that young players should be seen but not heard, and is part of the reason why Valdespin initially struggled to reach the big leagues. His history of Minor League disciplinary issues is well known around camp. In his early days, Valdespin fostered the impression that he cared more about himself than the team. It is a perception he is still working to change.

Vald'Espin having a good game, it seems.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I know it's not exactly the same but what I always come back to is that we received 2 solid prospects and a serviceable ML catcher for Dickey at the same age he was when Tom Fucking Seaver cost Charlie Puleo and 2 minor league scrubs. Yeah, but look what we got from the White Sox for Seaver!

Howard goes to Amway so you don't have to.

And a little aural bonus, featuring Gary and Murph, here.

Matthew Callan (of Amazin' Avenue's This Week In Baseball retrospective and other fine features) had me on his excellent podcast series Replacement Players, available here. Matthew picks a vintage game, assigns a DVD to his guest and then gets together with said person to discuss the hell out of it. He had Jason on a few weeks ago to talk Game Two of the 2000 NLCS (Rick Ankiel's breakdown versus the Mets). My ep was the Melvin Mora Game, a.k.a. Game 162, October 3, 1999. The Mets needed to win it to extend their lives and -- spoiler alert -- did so. The whole thing's a worthwhile series for your ears.

Gwreck wrote: Fun show but an audience filled with people who crawled out of the Seventies for the evening. Picturing Bruce Boisclair holding a cigarette lighter aloft for "Mainstreet".

Followup: Howard Megdal's lengthy interview with Amway's VP of marketing.

d'Arnaud with a hustle d'ouble that sees him slide into second. Wonder if he's not supposed to d'o that either.

Mike Rizzo sitting in, going on about how the Nats respect everybody in the division, with hat tips to the Phillies, the Braves, the Marlins..."and we're not looking past the Mets, either," which is code for "we're looking past the Mets."

MASN feed on MLBN right NOW!!!! Bob Carpenter really does suck.

Lowering key concession prices, that is. Cleveland, anyway. � $4 beers � $3 dogs � $2 soft drink refills � 15 $1 hot dog nights (less likely to cause a stir than 10 Cent Beer Night did in the same city). Indians signed also signed Michael Bourn in the offseason.

MLwzmtuxP1c Money lyrics, from Lobo's "Happy Days in New York City," circa 1969: But today in New York city The people are smiling a lot And it's all because of the group of guys Who used to lose a lot Now it took eight years to do it And they don't know what they've done For the city's beginning to smile again The Mets have finally won

Mets � Willets Point wrote: Cacao! That's kind of a cool word... ldQGPwuHhkM (NSFW-ish.)

Just been told that in the novel Heft by Liz Nelson, one of the characters is a high school senior being scouted by the Mets.

No leveraging the 20th win (Dickey's, not the Mets') in current advertising, sadly. That was pretty great.

The commercial seems to indicate a Mets no-hitter could break out at any moment. And technically, I suppose it could.

Mets � Willets Point wrote: Maddoff, Amway,... can we get Herbalife for the trifecta? LOSE FANS NOW. ASK US HOW!

A little bit of the Magic is gone, as Mario is, I believe, the first 1980 Met to pass on.

En Espanol aqui. Translated here. The president of the Baseball Federation of Puerto Rico, Dr. Jos� Quiles, expressed condolences to the family of former player in Major League Baseball, Mario "Nato" Ramirez, who died Friday after several health problems. "We deeply regret the loss of Nato Ramirez. Had the opportunity to share with him and his family this past Saturday at the inauguration of the new stadium of Yauco and Friday we learned of this sad news. We joined the grief felt by his family and we ask our Lord to give them a lot of strength and peace of mind in this difficult time, "said Quiles. Ramirez, 55 years old, was in poor health in recent months. At the opening of the new municipal stadium Yauco, Ramirez was honored by the team of Coffee Growers. The team yaucano retired the number 12, which he used in the major leagues from 1980 to 1985. Quiles ordered a minute's silence on Friday at all stages of the country in honor of Ramirez.

He spelled incumbent wrong.

Got it off a reliable (if in this case undetailed) Baseball Player Passings page on Facebook. Ramirez and Moreno both saw a spate of playing time circa August 1980 when Flynn and Taveras (among others) each went down and took what was left of the season with them. Ramirez was 3. Moreno was 4. The Mets were doomed.