G-Fafif

His 100th win came in his Mets debut. His two-hitter on the final day stole no thunder from the swirl of controversy around the batting title that was secured in its midst. He wasn't much in relief. He wasn't much of a starter at the end. But thanks, again, for being a 2001 Diamondback and keeping the world safe for the rest of us.

I want to see an 11-0 trip, of course, but my reasonable request is 5-6. It would be impossible to do any more of an el foldo than has been done, but if this team is going to show any of that finger-lickin' good resilience it's always going on about (or was, before the current 1-12 skein grew fatal), this is the time. The West Coast has been the Met respectability burial ground for three years running after the break: 2-4 last year (more of a death flourish than death spiral by then); 2-9 in the most hideous example in 2010; and 2-5 in 2009, just as the SHaMs were making it clear they were a sham. At this point of 2012, there's no standings at stake, just a little unfolding. I'd like to see Terry Collins truly straighten this team out to the point where they're as good a bet to win a game as to lose six. If the head recedes deep into the turtle shell for the next two weeks, it's an indicator that he may not be the leader of men he's been cracked up to be.

Crushed box. Hefner 2.5

Valdespin 1.5 Acosta 0.5

STREAKBUSTERS! (?) Andres Torres � CF Daniel Murphy � 2B David Wright � 3B Scott Hairston � RF Ike Davis � 1B Jason Bay � LF Ronny Cedeno � SS Mike Nickeas � C R.A. Dickey � RHP

The ancient Mariner has an ITCH to ROW around the bases, but he revs up his SUZUKI instead!

Young 3.0 Wright 1.0 Davis 1.0 Tejada 0.5 Murphy 0.5

METS ALL-TIME HIT LEADERS Through Games of 7/23/2012 1. Ed Kranepool 1,418 2. DAVID WRIGHT 1,367 COUNTDOWN: Krane Minus 51 2012 GAMES REMAINING: 66

For a couple of years in the early '90s, after Steve Zabriskie left, the Mets shuttled announcers in and out of the Channel 9 booth on weekends to accommodate Tim McCarver's network schedule, as if conducting a series of rotating auditions. Ray Knight was one of those voices partnering with Ralph Kiner. Bob Carpenter was another. Now they're both with the Nats. Carpenter didn't do enough to quite inspire the enmity he has in certain segments of the DC market but he had definitely had that generic announcer feel to him -- like a stiffer Dave O'Brien -- and he wasn't missed when he moved on. (Though to be fair, I was kind of happy he wasn't Fran Healy...not being Fran Healy was a big plus for a long time.) It was during this period that Frank Cashen sat in with Ralph from time to time, most notably on a Mets Classic that gets rebroadcast often, the David Cone 19-K finale from Philly, 10/6/1991...when Cashen knew more than he was letting on about what might have been distracting David that morning.

OMG, that losing streak is going to be sorry it stuck around tonight...

metirish wrote: here is the one to follow @greg_prince I can't argue with that. Really, though, Rubin (Snookisms aside) sweeps up everything in his wake. If I quit following all the other beatsie boys, I don't think I'd miss an iota of actual information.

This is good knowin', though the best knowin' would be knowin' the Nats are leavin' New York with a three-game losin' streak. (It's a fact: Politicians who wish to be elected to federal office often drop their g's.)

Speedo Tracksuit confirms thing you weren't wondering about isn't an issue. Great reporting! NY Mets are fading in the pennant race, but are closing racial divide in the clubhouse Frank Francisco confirms white and Latino players harmonious in Flushing in far cry from Paul Lo Duca/Carlos Degado rift years ago NEW YORK DAILY NEWS SUNDAY, JULY 22, 2012, 11:28 PM When Red Sox pitcher Vicente Padilla accused Mark Teixeira of racial insensitivity a few weeks back, he pulled Frank Francisco into the story, too. The Mets� closer was rehabbing in Port St. Lucie, Fla., then, but working at Citi Field over the weekend, so I could finally ask him: What was that about? More important, Padilla�s comments created a fresh chance to dive into the loaded dynamic between white and Latino players � and to learn that said dynamic has improved inside the Mets clubhouse since the Paul Lo Duca/Carlos Delgado years. This is not relevant to the standings. Harmonious or not, these banged-up Mets are sinking; the weekend�s sweep by the Dodgers, ending with Sunday�s 8-3 loss in 12 innings, provided further confirmation. But while the team has stagnated on the field, it has made progress in more difficult areas. First, the back story that has us talking about this again: Padilla told NESN.com this about his former Texas Rangers teammate: �The things (Teixeira has) done, against the Latinos, he doesn�t open his mouth about. ... He also had problems with Frank Francisco, our closer back then.� Teixeira called the charges �completely erroneous.� On Sunday, the closer acknowledged tension surrounding Teixeira in Arlington, but said he did not personally see race as the cause. �I never had a problem with him,� the thoughtful closer told me. �I know, like, most of the Latinos didn�t like him.� But as Francisco saw it, the issue was less loaded � a clubhouse card game that sometimes extended past the accepted window of 45 minutes before game time. �We used to play cards, and he didn�t like the game,� Francisco said. �It wasn�t Latin. It was me, Marlon Byrd, Kenny Lofton. We used to play together. �I never had a problem with (Teixeira),� he added. �He didn�t have a problem with me. It was with Kenny Lofton. Teixeira (had) three years in the big leagues back then, and Kenny Lofton was playing forever. Kenny Lofton said something to him, and he said, �Kenny, go back to your locker.�� But let�s cut a few layers deeper than old Rangers drama, and use the Padilla flap as another reminder of the cultural misunderstandings that divide major league clubhouses. Speaking generally about baseball teams and not the 2012 Mets, R.A. Dickey, who played with Teixeira and Francisco in Texas, agreed that race can be an �elephant in the room� in baseball. �You feel the segregation going on in the clubhouse,� Dickey said. �It is natural to hang out with people of your own culture, and there is nothing wrong with that. But the way it gets toxic is when it keeps you from interacting with your other teammates.� The Dominican-born Francisco agreed with his Tennessee colleague. �Sometimes Latinos have their own group,� the closer said. �Same culture. We have more in common, and probably talk about stuff that happened over there.� Both pitchers denied racial awkwardness in this year�s Mets clubhouse. �Honestly, here it�s one of the best,� Francisco said. �I�ve been on like five different teams, including the minor leagues, and here ... everybody gets along good.� Other seasons were messier. The way a longtime Met laid it out for me Sunday, there were lingering white/Latino tensions as recently as 2010. The dynamic, as described by the player, was this: Some white Mets grumbled that their Latino teammates received excessive playing time and contracts during the Omar Minaya era (a ridiculous assertion to anyone who knows the fair-minded Minaya). Still, those feelings engendered the same �they�re taking our jobs� paranoia that underlies the larger debate over immigration in America. Now, with mostly different personnel, disagreements involve simpler issues like the volume of a clubhouse stereo. �Some guys like the music, but I guarantee (others) here, they don�t like it,� Francisco said, chuckling. �They don�t like all that loud (stuff).� But the closer believes that on issues of cultural awareness, his team is in a good place. �We spend more time together than with our family,� Francisco said. �We�ve had to learn how to respect each other, and understand that everybody came from different cultures.� As for Padilla dragging him into this conversation, Francisco laughed while remembering a pitcher famous for head-hunting. �He�s different,� Francisco said. �The only problem was, he hits people all the time. Besides that, great guy.�

Barry Larkin, Vicki Santo, Bob Elliott and our own (in the context of his remarks) Tim McCarver each spoke brilliantly at Cooperstown this weekend. Elliott spoke for Canada, Vicki for her late husband's fight against diabetes, Larkin told rich and detailed stories about the vets who helped him as he broke in (great story about Buddy Bell and Dodger Stadium) and Tim confirmed that his sixteen seasons with the Mets were the highlight of his broadcasting career. Plus a lovely video montage for the Kid. Hope MLBN reruns this stuff somewhere, though it's not the schedule or their site. I guess they can always run Kevin Millar and Chris Rose eight more times a day.

So this is how things are negotiated Inside The Beltway.

Murphy 3.5 Niese 3.0 Wright 1.0 Parnell 1.0 Rauch 0.5 Byrdak 0.5

METS ALL-TIME HIT LEADERS Through Games of 7/22/2012 1. Ed Kranepool 1,418 2. DAVID WRIGHT 1,366 COUNTDOWN: Krane Minus 52 2012 GAMES REMAINING: 67

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: My conflict is more that I bought the tickets-- the only ones I've actually purchased this year-- with the intent to go as a family outing. Now, I'm either selling at a loss or ditching my wife and child to go with friends/other family. Mets could at least lay in complimentary coffee and cots.

Little box...little box of horrors. Edgin 2.0 Valdespin 1.5 Murphy 1.5 Cedeno 1.5 Byrdak 0.5

Mets 2-0 in 2011 with me there and Batista starting, only 3-2 when Capuano started and me there. So maybe it will be a good Fonzie Bobblehead Day after all. Ruben Tejada � SS Andres Torres � CF David Wright � 3B Scott Hairston � RF Jason Bay � LF Ike Davis � 1B Ronny Cedeno � 2B Mike Nickeas � C Miguel Batista � RHP

Jordany and Marie

Murphy 3.0 Valdespin 2.0 Beato 1.5 Ramirez 1.5 Byrdak 0.5 Rauch 0.5 Wright 0.5

Ruben Tejada � SS Daniel Murphy � 2B David Wright � 3B Ike Davis � 1B Lucas Duda � RF Jason Bay � LF Andres Torres � CF Josh Thole � C Johan Santana � LHP

He did good. Exchanged for future considerations, which Rubin says could mean this: I twice interviewed the guy behind that brand -- in-person sessions that had nothing at all to do with my desire to concoct trips to Baltimore so I could go to Camden Yards and have my expenses covered. Nothing at all.

I have a real affinity for Ike and feel nothing in particular for Lucas, but I just traded Ike because I don't trust my affinities. Also, as JCL suggested, I think there's more to Duda than we're seeing (at 1B, probably) while we may have a pretty good picture of everything Ike can do. Also, indispensable power-hitting first basemen are sometimes dispensable, Albert. This is not a real-world endorsement of trading Ike Davis, mind you. Just a pretend-world answer to the question.