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N.L. East WSH -- ATL 4.0 NYM 5.5 N.L. Wild Card PIT/CIN -- (1 GA ATL) ATL -- *** SFG 0.5 NYM 1.5 STL 1.5 ARI 5.0 MIL 6.0 MIA 6.0 LAD leads SFG by 0.5, ARI by 5.0 in NL West PIT and CIN tied, lead STL by 2.5 in NL Central

Tejada 2.0 Wright 1.5 Hairston 1.5 Nieuwenhuis 1.0 Duda 1.0 Davis 0.5 Batista 0.5 Edgin 0.5

METS ALL-TIME HIT LEADERS Through Games of 7/13/2012 1. Ed Kranepool 1,418 2. DAVID WRIGHT 1,356 COUNTDOWN: Krane Minus 62 2012 GAMES REMAINING: 75

Others involved in this game: Bourn CF Prado LF Heyward RF Jones 3B Freeman 1B Uggla 2B Ross C Wilson SS Hudson P

I'm tellin' ya, Ed is doin' a rain dance. Or a Krane dance.

Less than four hours remain, pending tarp time. Per Sonny Curtis, we might just make it after all.

As for the rain, lay in the Mets Yearbooks!

Ruben Tejada � SS Daniel Murphy � 2B David Wright � 3B Ike Davis � 1B Lucas Duda � RF Scott Hairston � LF Kirk Nieuwenhuis � CF Josh Thole � C Chris Young � RHP Imposing? Not really, but it's gotten the job done thus far.

Ed Kranepool approves of long All-Star breaks and will lobby to have this one extended long enough so that David Wright, stuck on 1,354 since Saturday, gets bored and finds another line of work.

Do try and catch the Seinfeld-Costas "Who's On First?" show (under "MLB Network Special," probably) when it airs again. Listening to Jerry dissect a baseball bit is better than Ronnie dissecting the split-finger fastball. Only 18 1/2 hours to go!

While we ask, "When's on next?" Jerry Seinfeld considers "Who's on first?" tonight at 7 on MLBN.

Baseball that actually counts on tap at Turner Field, Friday night, 7:35. Chris Young vs. Tim Hudson, with Josh Edgin in the visitors' bullpen. So get underway already!

28 hours and change...

Tom notices Reggie loves to talk. Tom Seaver regaled a crowd of 900 in the Adam's Mark ballroom today with stories of his career as the keynote speaker at the Triple-A All-Star Luncheon. Prior to the luncheon, Seaver met the media and provided a few similar tales. But he quickly turned serious when I asked him his thoughts on Reggie Jackson's recent diatribe to Sports Illustrated that several Hall of Famers -- including the recently deceased Gary Carter -- did not belong in Cooperstown. Those words drew the ire of former Carter teammate and current Bisons manager Wally Backman, who called Bergen Record columnist Bob Klapisch over the weekend to complain about Jackson's comments. Said Seaver: "Reggie is Reggie and I like Reggie but Reggie sometimes turns the logical part of his brain off. And Reggie loves to talk. It just didn't make very much sense to me. Asked what kind of reception Jackson will receive from Hall of Famers in Cooperstown at this month's induction ceremonies, Seaver said, "It will be interesting to see, won't it? Reggie will apologize. He's very diplomatic. The other part of it is he believes very strongly about the institution. He wouldn't be saying that if it was just about himself I hope. And he's too bright not to be that way."

52 1/2 hours to go...

Holy fuck, they actually need to have a rule change because an MFY -- "The Ambassador of Smiles" -- got booed? The booing of beleaguered Home Run Derby captain Robinson Cano finally had faded by Tuesday afternoon. But the aftermath could cause Major League Baseball to consider a new rule to include at least one hometown slugger in future Home Run Derbies, commissioner Bud Selig said Tuesday. The booing of Cano was inspired by his failure to pick Kansas City All-Star Billy Butler for the Derby after pledging earlier this month to include a Royal. Last year's National League captain, Prince Fielder, received similar treatment in Phoenix for not picking Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Justin Upton. So Selig conceded those displays of "hometown loyalty" could spark changes to head off similar outbursts in future Derbies. "We'll talk about this [potential rule change]," Selig said during his annual session with the Baseball Writers Association of America. "While I understand [the feelings of fans in] Kansas City ... I felt very badly last night. I felt badly last year for Prince. This was tough." When another questioner observed the heat -- and boos -- could even intensify next year with the game scheduled for Citi Field in New York, Selig again lamented Monday's episode. "It won't be any worse than last night," he said. "You can only boo so loud. ... But let me just say, we'll think about that." Love the assumption that Citi Field will boo its head off if Ike isn't picked. Half of Citi Field will be on line for Shake Shack. And, sadly, if Cano or some other MFY is participating, the other half of Citi Field will kiss his ass while Jeff Wilpon digs up another pitching rubber to send them.

75+ hours to go...

And, oh yeah, Dickey's been something close to Terrific in the first half, per Mark Simon.

Alex Belth with more on the guy who R.A. befriended in his last months -- a study in menschdom. I was surprised, then, when he reached out to me about five or six years ago. We exchanged e-mails and whatever hard feelings that might have existed were gone. We didn�t see each other but touched base every now and then. Mike had become a baseball fan through his wife who was�and is�nuts for the Mets. I thought that was amusing coming from a guy who loved to ridicule overpaid, conceited jocks. Mike suffered with Crohn�s and he died too young. Go figure that baseball would provide distraction and comfort for him. His encounter with R.A. Dickey was moving. You know, when we were kids, Getty laughed in the movie theater at the end of Terms of Endearment when everyone else sobbed. During The Breakfast Club when the kids bared their souls and the theater was quiet, Getty cackled. He was allergic to sentiment. But after R.A. Dickey called him on the phone, Mike cried. And I think he�d very much appreciate Coffey�s article. Yet another reason to pull for Mr. Dickey who sounds like some kind of mensch.

What's with the extra day off this year? Something to do with the extra playoff spot, I think (or am imagining). nah, because that was scheduled before the playoff spot was added (this has been brought up with the worry about ties at the end of the season, since they didn't necessarily leave time) It was always either 3 or 4, I think they just decided to make it uniform for everyone. Not exactly an arbitrary decision; and it does have something to do with larger changes. It's included in the current CBA, albeit for 2013 to 2016. E. 15/15 Realignment Beginning with the 2013 championship season, the Office of the Commissioner will prepare a schedule based on the following criteria: (A) There will be no more than 20 Interleague games. The bulk of Interleague play will be based on a rotating division format, but may include no more than one series against a prime inter-league rival unless they play two two-game series. In the years when the corresponding divisions are scheduled for Interleague play, two series of three or fewer games against the prime inter-league rival may be played. ( Each Club will play no fewer than 17 games against each Club in its division if the schedule is 181 days or more. Each Club will play no fewer than 18 games against each Club in its division if the schedule is 180 days or fewer. (C) The original schedule may contain one home split doubleheader for each Club. (D) The All-Star break will contain four days for all Clubs. The extra day off seems compensation for the squeezing in of potential scheduled day-night doubleheaders and other complications arising from daily Interleague nonsense to come.

All-Star starter in life, I tell you what. I'd heard this story off-the-record a few months ago and am glad it's now coming to light. KANSAS CITY � Four stories above 44th St. in Sunnyside, Queens Tuesday night, a 43-year-old social worker will celebrate her birthday by rooting for a 37-year-old knuckleball pitcher. It will be R.A. Dickey�s first All-Star Game and it will be Eileen Lopez�s first time sharing him with the whole country. So it will be new to both of them, the journeyman-turned-star and the wife-and-mother-turned widow, a woman who is sure that Dickey�s knuckleball will befuddle the American Leaguers, and equally sure that her emotions will be as untrackable as his pitch. How else could it be, when the man on the mound gave her husband, the late Mike Gitelson, one of the sweetest and purest thrills of his life? When a man from baseball�s discard pile found a way to connect with her husband so profoundly that it made a staunchly unsentimental contrarian turn weepy with joy? �I�ll probably be crying during the All-Star Game,� Eileen Lopez says. �It�ll be the best birthday present in a year that has been incredibly challenging. It will be very bittersweet.� Eileen Lopez pauses and sighs. �R.A. made Mike so happy at a time when he was so unhappy,� she says. R.A. Dickey is 12-1 and has a 2.40 ERA and is doing things no knuckleball pitcher has ever done, even with a couple of recent wobbles against the Yankees and Phillies, all of it making him as sudden a baseball star as we have ever had around here. Dickey was ABC's Person of the Week last week. He was all over CNN Monday and will be on Letterman Wednesday, and has a memoir (this writer assisted him with it) on the New York Times best- sellers list, a �narrative of hope and redemption,� as Dickey calls it. Eileen Lopez knows all about Dickey�s journey, how he survived sexual abuse and dysfunction and thoughts of suicide, and of course knows about his dominance this year, though she�ll tell you the most enduring impact of R.A. Dickey has nothing to do with his WHIP or his shocking record or his All-Star appearance, but his regular-guy humility that is as much a part of him as the knuckler. It�s not a public face, or a device to move books. It is at the core of who the man is, living his faith and holding the conviction that if you have a chance to help somebody, you sure better take it. �He is an incredibly giving human being,� Eileen Lopez says. A social worker himself who tried to help kids stay out of foster care, Mike Gitelson saw his connection with Dickey begin in January 2011. Gitelson had struggled for years with Crohn�s Disease, and now word came that he had acute myeloid leukemia. Megadoses of chemotherapy began forthwith. Alex Belth, a writer and baseball blogger who had been a childhood friend of Gitelson�s in Croton-on-Hudson, connected with Lopez on Facebook, and they talked about how to try to boost Mike�s spirits. Gitelson was never any sort of athlete, and had an awkward splay-footed stride when he walked. He rejected convention and railed against injustice and organized protests against Nike for its Southeast Asian sweatshops, and had no use for sports or baseball at all, until he met Lopez, a New York Met fanatic. And then, before you could say Jane Jarvis, Gitelson was drinking the Choo Choo Coleman Kool-Aid. He and Lopez went to games all the time. They moved to Sunnyside for its easy access to the No. 7 train. In 2002, Gitelson proposed marriage to Lopez at Shea Stadium. They paid $400 to have Mr. Met make an appearance at their wedding reception, and had tables named Grote and Throneberry and Charles, and even one named for Mo Vaughn. �Why not see if I can get a Met to call him?� Belth thought. He had connections with the team. Calls were made. One winter day Gitelson�s cell phone rang. �Hi Mike, this is R.A. Dickey of the New York Mets,� the caller said, in a voice coated with Tennessee. They talked some baseball and Dickey asked about his health and Mike told him all about the treatments and the whole mess. �He was the nicest man. I felt so calm talking to him,� Gitelson told his wife. Dickey invited Mike, Eileen and their daughter, Isabella, to a game, a visit that happened on June 3, 2011, weeks before Mike was due to have a bone-marrow transplant. A Mets community-relations official walked them down a tunnel, past the clubhouse, down a flight of steps and a batting cage, into the Mets dugout. �Oh my God, they are taking us to the field,� Gitelson told Lopez, his eyes moistening. They met Dickey between home plate and the dugout. Dickey and Gitelson had a long talk, focusing particularly on Cuba, where they�d both traveled. Gitelson knew he was in the presence of the ultimate underdog, and he liked that. Dickey said he�d pray for him, and even though Gitelson was not at all religious, he was open to people praying for him. �I remember he was having some trouble, and I just tried to engage with him,� Dickey says. �I just wanted to be in the moment with him.� The Gitelson/Lopez family had a new favorite pitcher, and he wore No. 43. They loved that he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to help raise money to fight human trafficking, loved his honesty about himself and the Mets. Last winter Mike Gitelson began to experience serious complications from the bone-marrow transplant. He was hospitalized three times. His immune system was already compromised from the Crohn�s. No medication or treatment could reverse his decline. At 6:18 p.m. on March 19, with the �Mets Yearbook� program playing on SNY, Mike Gitelson died in Room 243 of the bone-marrow transplant unit of Weill Cornell Medical Center. Two days later, he was laid to rest in Mt. Zion Cemetery in Maspeth, Queens. He was 40 years old and went into the earth wearing a gray R.A. Dickey T-shirt. �R.A. brought him so much joy, there was no question that�s what he wanted to wear,� Eileen Lopez says. Dickey�s plan is to bring back some All-Star trinkets and keepsakes for Eileen and Isabella. �You think they would like that?� he asks. It will be one more beautiful, grief-laden moment for Eileen Lopez. �It�s mind-blowing, thinking that the man whose shirt Mike is wearing is doing so incredibly,� she says. �You can�t make this up.� Eileen Lopez isn�t happy that Tony La Russa isn�t starting Dickey, but she is ecstatic that he is an All-Star, and can't wait to watch him with Isabella four flights above 44th St. in Sunnyside, even though it will be hard. It will be very hard. �Every time R.A. pitches, I want to watch, and then I wind up in tears,� Eileen Lopez says. �I wish Mike were here so he could see this, but in some ways I really feel that he is. That�s the best part. It�s almost like Mike is a part of this.�

seawolf17 wrote: What's with the extra day off this year? Something to do with the extra playoff spot, I think (or am imagining).

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Who was the Yankee infielder who was busted with underage girls and replied "What I'm I supposed to do, cut off one of her arms and count the rings?" See? Even with statutory rape, it's all about the rings, baby!

Where's Warren Giles to strip Posey of his designation and replace him with Josh Thole when we need him?

Just under 99 hours now, though it will feel like more time is being added during the home run derby.