G-Fafif

1980 utility infielder reportedly passed away this morning at 55. Spent Tide-marked year as a Met after coming up through their minors. His first hit came off Vida Blue during a game I listened to on the car radio on Flatbush Ave. en route to a doctor's appointment as my mother talked her way out of a traffic ticket by playing the "but officer, I'm just a dumb suburban housewife" card. Spoken hellishly highly of on UMDB. Drafted away Rule 5 by Padres same day John Lennon was murdered. Played for '84 N.L. champs. Sported a 'fro that just wouldn't quit. Never won't conflate him with Jose Moreno. RIP.

Greg Hanlon of Capital New York profiles "the anti-Michael Kay," Gary Cohen. Lots of great stuff in there, besides this: He does read various Mets blogs, he told me, citing the �incredibly well-written� Faith and Fear in Flushing, along with Amazin� Avenue, as two of his go-tos.

I don't remember if we gave CY the Memories treatment last year when it appeared he was gone, but if we didn't, what about that oak of a man? Started the bin Laden is dead game and provided relevant postgame commentary as someone who was in the general area (at Princeton) on 9/11. Three hits in his first start, never much of a hitter again. Second go-round mostly game, never spectacular. Was Sandy's fallback plan. First-place favorite Nationals to benefit from his wisdom and experience...or have so many problems that they turn to Chris Young. Good luck, sort of.

"Train like a big leaguer! Just not too much like a big leaguer."

I've never been to Citi Field and felt tramped. Maybe a little thieved.

When Citi Field opened, I remember the (then $16) lobster roll being the hook for a number of stories, either of an approving nature ("what a menu!") or disparaging ("sixteen bucks at the ballpark?"). Compared with everything else at Citi Field, edible or otherwise, it doesn't seem glaringly outrageous -- and given that your choices aren't $17 lobster roll or hunger, just don't order the fucking lobster roll. If payroll's gonna be significantly down (which is not necessarily a crime against baseball), it would be bloody brilliant if a few items here and there came down a notch at the concessions/in the stands. Like hot dogs, mainly. That would give the hardcore fan and family a real break. Charge whatever for the exotica, pony up to your own tastes or at your own risk. But dogs, fries, peanuts, pretzels, Cracker Jack, liquid refreshment beverages of a non-alcohol nature...treat them like the baseball staples they are. Maybe throw in one or two non-bad-for-you things while you're at it.

Long Island's own, working out and looking up. “The best advice I can give to any player looking to make it to the next level is always work hard,” Maron said. “If you work hard and put yourself in the right environment, with the right trainers and specialists, and the right teammates, you can make it anywhere. Spending part of the year in the North East, especially the offseason, requires a lot self-motivation and a good work ethic. There are a lot of obstacles that are present in the northeast that are not present in other parts of the country. Do not let anyone tell you that you can’t make it because of where you come from. Just find the right situation and work your tail off and everything else will take care of itself.”

The Grantland piece is for a wider audience than just Mets fans. Everybody else may be going about their business without getting a good laugh at our lousy outfield...which can't possibly be as bad as it's been made out to be, which, in turn, gives me a little hope to add on to a few other things that don't look horrible. A writer presents himself through his writing, so if anyone forms an impression about Howard through his coverage of the Mets, that's fair, but the "Megdal" caricature who is intermittently invoked here really isn't the person I've had the pleasure of knowing these past few years. Maybe Bob Klapisch and Andy Martino aren't the guys I think of them as, either, but I don't know them.

Art Baumgarten: Keeping juvenile delinquents off the street so they can't bother decent people since 1964.

Saw an expert analyst on MLBN explain really good teams have "solid hitting, solid starting pitching and a shutdown bullpen." So go get those, Mets, and you'll be set.

"Remember, boys, what counts is the name on the front of your jersey, not the back...uh, never mind!" Great find!

I think the quote was actually from this book: Mike Piazza: Leave evidence of well-to-do upbringing all over clubhouse bathroom floor, no clean up before Chico use. Tom Glavine: No show proper remorse for bad last outing. Last outing berry, berry bad for Mets. Joe McEwing: Everybody say Joe "super". Joe no so super. Chico es super.

Rob Neyer notices Piazza claims he was criticized in a T#m Gl@v!ne book that doesn't exist. And that Gl@v!ne never criticized Piazza in the manner Piazza's book describes, at least not publicly or in print. Quality Control on a Simon & Schuster product would seem to be lacking.

Baseball players getting ready to play baseball.

The "Vin Scully was crushing me" thing in L.A. seems to have gained traction to the point it's probably a bigger deal/detriment than anything Mike had to say about PEDs. Comments section of the linked piece, mostly from the estranged and scorned among Dodgers fans, is fairly enlightening (which is rare for a comments section). Bill Plaschke: told Mike to "zip it" in 1998 and still has a major market newspaper column. That's the real crime here.

May the Mets go so zimmo on the 215 innings Santana throws this year that Fred personally extend him another six years based on the three shutouts he throws in the World Series.

He really loves that Reggie Jefferson quote. Reggie Jefferson, you'll remember, played alongside Mike at every stop in his major league career from 1992 to 2007, except for 1992 to 2007, when they were never even in the same league. Also, note the quiet pejorative Chassage: "Baseball people" are all knowing. "Cincinnati writer" indicates a step down from Michael Bamberger. If Lonnie Wheeler had been the first choice and turned it down, he'd be the "respected collaborator," whereas Bamberger would be "a magazine writer". Craig Carton is a trustworthy voice of reason. Boomer Esiason's a dumb jock. Lasorda is without insight. Mark McGwire proves that.

"Our Jeter"/"The Mets' Jeter" has been floating around practically since the day Wright came up. WTF's wrong with "he's David Wright"?

... Since 1991, only four [NYM] pitchers have pitched at least 215 innings: Hampton in 2000; Martinez in 2005; Santana in 2008; and Dickey in 2012. In three of those cases, the pitcher in question had thrown at least 215 innings the previous year as well (something which clearly won't be the case with Johan here) and Dickey in 2011 was almost there with 208 innings thrown. Those same four 215+ seasons were followed up with years which saw the pitcher: - jump ship and experience a near doubling of his ERA (Hampton) - make eight fewer starts and throw just 132 innings (Pedro) - make seven fewer starts and drop to 166 innings pitched (Santana) - get dealt away and ???? (Dickey) Not that I'm suggesting a cause and effect here based on those pitchers exceeding 215 IPs. Like the WBC data this is just too small a sample to start cherry picking conclusions, however tempting that might be. One franchise, 21 seasons, four pitchers reaching the mark. It's a rarity around here at this point, so I'm not really worried/enthused about Johan's chances of getting to 215 IP.

Through 1991, at least one Met pitched 215 or more innings every season save for 1980, strike-shortened 1981, 1982 and injury-ravaged 1987. Since 1991, only four pitchers have pitched at least 215 innings: Hampton in 2000; Martinez in 2005; Santana in 2008; and Dickey in 2012. To the intuitive point that you have to be having a pretty good season to compile that kind of workload, it wasn't always the case. Sub-90 ERA+ for Mets with 215 or more IP: Jack Fisher three times (1964, 1965, 1967), Al Jackson in 1963 and Mike Torrez in 1983.

Chass plumbs new depths in condescension, innuendo and overall douchebaggery. Piazza could be the brattiest of brats with a syringe sticking out of his ass and it wouldn't make the Bacne Crusader look a whit better. Had Piazza agreed to an interview this week, I would love to have had the opportunity to ask him about his back and the timing and disappearance of his acne. But the guy who just published an $800,000 book, isn�t doing interviews. Why should he care about book sales? He got his money. The publisher, on the other hand, should care for the same reason, but neither Mr. Simon nor Mr. Schuster wants to ruffle Piazza�s feathers, you know, the ones left from the steroids. Dick. Seriously.

In two of the three interviews I've heard, Mike pays homage to the coaching he received as a Dodger. He should also thank whoever has coached him for these sessions. In all three -- with Greg Amsinger on MBLN, Jon Stewart on TDS and Mike Francesa on WFAN -- when he's asked about steroids, he takes the same pause, emits the same "hmmm, that's an interesting question..." inflection and answers in the same fashion each time. Not so much that it's the same answer (the substance ought to be consistent), but as if the interviewer is the very first person to ask him about it and he's never really thought about it before. It's the kind of spontaneous Charles Van Doren performance Herb Stempel would have pointed out with glee to Congress in Quiz Show.

Monk, any tidbits on any Mets we wouldn't necessarily expect mentioned? On FAN yesterday, for example, he talked about what a cutup Pat Mahomes was.

bmfc1 wrote: An LA news report on the interview Piazza is talking about: http://ktla.com/2013/02/15/exclusive-raw-interview-piazza-scully-discuss-ultimatum/#axzz2KyaMzmZK Three takeaways: 1. Vin Scully is a bit of a company man. Given that he'd been the public voice of that company for 48 years to that point, no real surprise. Pretty mild inquisition. 2. Mike Piazza: Awfully touchy from words for a guy who got slammed into at the plate as much as he did. 3. Glen Walker didn't need to stand outside Dodger Stadium to introduce that piece. I'm guessing that the greater Los Angeles area didn't take its cue from a KTLA interview in 1998, either.

As much as we as fans lap up every morsel of Mets pronouncement, I think they'd all do themselves a favor -- Fred, Jeff, Sandy, Terry to a certain extent -- if they'd exercise restraint in talking or, more directly, STFU. I don't mean that as a slap at them. I mean it as a communications strategy. Manage the media message, for crissake. They're no better at it now than they were under Omar or Phillips. Unless their goal is just to be talked about, period. Then it's working. Only Duquette seemed to understand the value of keeping quiet and getting something done, though I suppose it didn't do him much good in the eyes of his employers.