G-Fafif

Don't know what Keith Law thinks, but Toby Hyde ranks the Nimm fifth among all Mets prospects. At the plate, he hits out of a wide base with almost no stride, instead preferring just to pick his front foot up and place it down in the same place as his timing trigger. It’s a sweet, simple swing. His hands are quick and he showed a nice feel for making contact. By the standards of young hitters, he’s reasonably patient, and even drew six walks in his first 10 games. His first few AB of his professional career against left-handed pitching were tough, but again, they were just a handful of at-bats. In addition to his physical gifts, Nimmo comes off as enthusiastic and almost unbelievably coachable. In his first week in St. Lucie, at the suggestion of Mets’ outfield instructors, he made a nice alteration to the mechanics of charging a ball in the outfield. It was a small detail, but spoke loudly about his willingness to adapt and try to improve. The Mets see Nimmo as a centerfielder who will hit in the middle of the order. That’s a star. Failing that, he could become a speed player or even Hunter Pence.

Has anybody ever heard a player, manager or coach say, "I prefer the American League style of play" or words to that effect? The hitting ability of pitchers is routinely dismissed and the notion of strategy -- the pitcher bunting or being pinch-hit for -- is scoffed at sometimes but nobody ever says, "I like the slower pace the DH inevitably brings to the game." I keep waiting to be won over by this supposed offensive marvel and four decades in, I still find it a detriment to enjoying baseball.

Dickey of course says all the right things without being trite. And Bay's his sly Canadian self, via Rubin. Jose Reyes� reunion with the Mets did not last long. Reyes grounded back to R.A. Dickey on the second pitch of the bottom of the first inning and exited after a rain delay halted play in the middle of the third inning without another trip to the plate. Afterward, Reyes suggested, Thursday's Mets-Marlins game did not feel overly meaningful. The significance will be far greater when he visits Citi Field for his first series at Citi Field in a Marlins uniform, April 24-26. "This is nothing," said Reyes, whose hair is now cut tightly and dyed brown. "It's going to be a little crazy when I go back to New York. This is spring training. This is just another game." Reyes batted righty against Dickey, as some switch-hitters choose to do against a knuckleballer. "Once he gets in the box, he's another baseball player, just like anybody else really," Dickey said. Still, Dickey added: "He meant so much to so many people in the clubhouse. You know, he's a great guy and a good friend. So it's not just like somebody you're an acquaintance with going on to another team. This guy obviously has been a Met his whole career and made a difference to a lot of people in the clubhouse. So it's a little different." The former teammates who made the trip to Jupiter greeted the shortstop warmly. Reyes defected for a six-year, $106 million contract. Reyes has continued to text with David Wright and also keeps in touch with Ike Davis and Justin Turner, the shortstop said. "When I was running there to warm up for the game, every guy went there to say hello to me," Reyes said. The "Jo-se, Jo-se" chants have not made their way to the Marlins' spring-training complex, but when the team played a pair of exhibition games against college teams in its new stadium in Miami, the familiar chant started to percolate. Of course, leaving New York didn't completely eradicate tabloid topics. Marlins president David Samson, in remarks he later disputed, was quoted during a speech to South Florida businessmen saying that Reyes told him during the recruiting process that all he wanted was $1 more than any other bidder in order to choose Miami. Reyes insisted Thursday he never uttered that remark. "I have no idea where that's coming from," Reyes said. "I don't know. I didn't even know that. My agent is who told me. I don't know why he said that. I have no idea. No, no, at any point I don't think I said that to him. I don't know where that comes from." As for the Marlins being the free spenders this past offseason and the Mets in austerity, Reyes said: "This team, they signed a couple of pieces on the field. They want to win. Before I signed here, I saw what they're trying to do. That's why I came here to Miami, because of the opportunity to win. I've been like nine years in the big leagues and I didn't win anything yet. We went to the playoffs once in New York. I want to win a World Series. I think on this team I have a better opportunity." As Reyes spoke postgame, he wore a sleeveless T-shirt with "305" across the chest, which Hanley Ramirez had given to his Marlins teammates to wear in the weight room. Ramirez has moved to third base to accommodate Reyes' signing. "It's been good," Reyes said about their relationship. "A lot of people, before we come to spring training, say a lot of stuff that me and Hanley wouldn't get along together. I don't know where people get that from, because me and Hanley have a very good relationship. Now we're on the same team; it's even better. Almost every day I go to his house, he comes to my house, to play PlayStation and stuff like that. We've been spending a lot of time together. We're very happy to be on the same team." Since they both cannot be the Marlins in the video game, Reyes plays the Boston Red Sox, while Ramirez plays the Philadelphia Phillies. Reyes, by the way, plans to keep his Manhasset, Long Island, home and live there at least through next offseason. He will reside in downtown Miami, not far from the Marlins' new stadium, during the season. Jason Bay said the only unusual thing about Thursday's reunion was Reyes' closely cropped hair. "He looked kind of funny with no hair and a small head," Bay said. Said Reyes about his hair, which he cut at the Marlins' request and auctioned for charity: "The first couple of days I missed it, but now I get used to it." As for the Mets, Dickey said there are players who have filled the energy void left by Reyes' departure so far. "You may not replace his exuberance with one person," Dickey said. "There have been a couple of people that are high-energy guys. Daniel Murphy is in there full time now. He definitely helps pick up the slack. I'm not disappointed with the guys that we have presently from an energy standpoint. "Obviously you can't replace a Jose Reyes. He's tough. He's tough to replace. He's an All-Star. But we've got guys that do bring a lot of energy to the club. And I haven't really noticed a huge vacancy. Now, as time goes by, you'll have to measure that. But, right now, we're clicking on all cylinders."

Bay mention if anybody's whining that he's still there?

Vic Sage wrote: So, I could see the Mets trying to breed a catcher, using DNA from Grote and Piazza. But with our luck, he'd end up hitting like Jerry and throwing like Mike. And would hold an untenably ornery press conference to deny that he has two dads.

If I ever get a time machine, I know where I'm going. Am I mistaken, or in photo #3 from 1915 is there a third deck on the Polo Grounds that is not present in the other photos? Are people standing on the roof? Also this is awesome: It looks like another deck, but that's the roof, with the bluff in the background. People would watch from there, though I can't quite tell if that's what's going on or it's just the flags, the background and whatnot making it look that way. (Maybe a few are on the roof.) A version of that Willie-Casey picture is on display at the Stengel entrance to Citi Field.

Know your first ballpark better via this gorgeous SI album. Mets-era pix kick in at No. 21.

Flipping by YEECH a few minutes ago, MFYs Magazine was doing a feature on Joba Chamberlain. Nancy Newman said (paraphrasing), "Of course Joba's goal is, as it is every year, to win another world championship." And by instinct, I heard myself telling Nancy Newman, "Oh, fuck you."

The kids love Air Supply references (though 6:00 newscasts are hardly directed at anyone not sentient pre-1980). Good thing his producer's such a genius.

Reminder: Great exhibition at the Met runs through June 17.

G-Fafif wrote: Follow Cam on Twitter! And follow his main squeeze here, if you wifey-watchers are so inclined.

Sue Simmons getting canned at NBC..... http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/veteran-tv-anchor-sue-simmons-is-losing-her-job/?hp Sue's been steadfast in her MLBS ways, good times and bad. Compare her with Channel 4 colleague Scott Stanford, the second-string sportscaster (and third-rate Dennis Miller impersonator, essentially) who not only can't pronounce Nickeas correctly, but when gently Tweeted about it so he might not blow it next time, claimed his producer's a big-time Mets fan and he says it's Nuh-KEY-us...as opposed to the way those uninformed naifs Gary Cohen, Howie Rose and Kevin Burkhardt say it. "My producer's a big Mets fan." How about "I'm a New York City sportscaster, I should know how to pronounce the name of a ballplayers who's been in town since 2010"? (Who knows, NICK-ee-us might actually provide him another highlight to snark over this season.) Anyway, never mind him. Here's hoping Sue is scooped up by a competitor and gets to co-anchor another ticker-tape parade for her favorite team, just as she did during the relatively early days of her WNBC tenure.

I noticed espn.com lists the all-important Grapefruit League standings. I loved that when I was a kid, seeing all these N.L. and A.L. teams jumbled together by meaningless records. It was peculiar to March and maybe early April, though by then, the records felt even more meaningless.

My boy loves being in major league camp...loves it! “I love it, I love it,” Nimmo said, beaming in the clubhouse after his first experience playing with major leaguers. “It’s something that I’d sat in bed when I was a kid and dreamt about.” His experience is not at all uncommon. Before the game, the faces of many Mets players lit up as they recalled the first time they were called to spend a day in big-league camp. “You would have thought it was Game 7 of the World Series with how nervous I was,” said David Wright, who was drafted by the Mets as a teenager in 2001. Ike Davis said he remembered popping up in his first at-bat and playing just a couple of innings in the field his first time in 2009. But the experience, he said, was not about performance. “You get to be in the same clubhouse as major leaguers,” Davis said. “You sit on the bench with them, see what they do, see how they work.” And, Davis said, “You get better food.” This was not lost on Nimmo, who spent the morning doing his routine at the minor league side of the Mets complex before being led over to the major league clubhouse before lunch. He seemed particularly impressed by one item in the major league spread, a dish of baked bell peppers stuffed with beef and rice. “I never saw those in the minor league side,” Nimmo said, laughing. “There was more variety. I definitely enjoyed that.”

"I'm a Mets fan, and I will suffer their fate for as long as they continue to suck." --Jon Stewart, March 5, 2012

Edgy DC wrote: problematic spelling. A Jonathan not coming to grips with a Jonathon?

themetfairy wrote: Does anyone remember the show on which the Bay City Rollers made their US debut

What, nobody's adopted last June's top pick? Well, that changes now, as Brandon Nimmo gets the feel of his first big league camp and tomorrow plays with the big boys.

One of my first cards, inherited from my sister; her '67s were from the entire year, but her '68s had low numbers only, indicating to me that she lost interest in her peer-pressured collecting long before sixth grade was over for her and Topps had released its second series. Mincher was No. 75 in the 1968 set, which convinced me he was a star since I caught on pretty quickly that cards ending in 5's and 0's were reserved for the best players. Any other Minchers I came into the rest of my days, I counted myself lucky based on that assessment.

I miss pennant fever.

You can 'jada light bat but you can't 'jada fish. (Needs work.)

Mets Rooters! Edsel Owners! Back A REAL Loser! Goldwater! --Pro-LBJ button, 1964, as noted in Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus by Rick Perlstein (Published in 2001, being read by me at present.)

That the conversation has wound this way in a Remembering the Late Gary Carter thread seems perversely appropriate. Must be what it was like for him in the clubhouse, circa 1986.

How many Mets -- or for that matter players in general -- do you suppose are working on a new grip or an alteration to their swing convinced it's just what they needed only to find themselves a year from now blaming their lost season on a "bad habit I got into during Spring Training"?

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Long Island 'bag is ringleader of insurance scam. I instantly decided you were positioning the MLDB as the regional and contemporary version of... Who was such a 'bag that he didn't make it to live studio audience Happy Days.