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Edgy DC wrote: I figure that if you give Mary Tyler Moore a bat, she can do better than .029. Love is all around I just got two hits!

Would have accepted "literary license," too, but your historical integrity is appreciated.

Herbel was a Met in 1970, never for Stengel (and never batted as a Met)...so am I missing something here?

Pictured -- Foreground: Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen, Marlins shortstop Jose Reyes; Background: Longtime Marlins fans.

Don Mattingly: MFY douchebag in Dodger clothing. Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, who spent his entire 14-year career as a major league player with the New York Yankees, said Tuesday that despite the major offseason moves and high expectations of the crosstown Los Angeles Angels, the Dodgers still own the Southland. "It's kind of like Mets-Yankees," Mattingly said just before the Dodgers' first full-squad workout of spring training. "The Yankees are the team. (The Mets) are going to have their years when they play well, but the Yankees are still the team. I don't want to badmouth the Angels at all. Mr. (Angels owner Arte) Moreno has done a great job down there in Anaheim, and (Angels manager) Mike (Scioscia) does a great job. But we're the Dodgers, and that isn't going to change." Mattingly's playing career coincided with the longest dry spell in Yankees history, the team failing to reach the playoffs until his final season of 1995, when they suffered a first-round loss to the Seattle Mariners. The Mets, meanwhile, were a dominant National League team through much of that period, winning a World Series in 1986.

[youtube:3fy6txzh]PNYPZcGCelE[/youtube:3fy6txzh] Kid's last Shea action, 1989, kicks in at around 2:30 -- though plenty to see before and after.

Checked link. Best had it as "Nino," at least now he does, so fixed above. Or it could be Nino led a double life.

How pleasing it would be to find Jeff Wilpon in history as opposed to the Mets present.

Josh confirms to Neil Best for those who didn't already know: Mets fan all the way. It is an emotion earned the hard way, as a youngster in Rochester who in 1978 favored the last-place Mets over the two-time World Series champion Yankees . "For whatever reason, the Mets seemed to resonate more," said Lewin, the team's new radio voice opposite Howie Rose . "Reggie [ Jackson ] was hitting three home runs and all that, but I was a Willie Montanez guy. And I loved Nino Espinosa's hair. "There was something about the Mets and the underdog-ness. They were the Jan Brady to the Yankees' Marcia. I always was a Jan guy when I got a little older." Not that there haven't been good times during Lewin's fandom. Game 6 of the 1986 World Series fell on his 18th birthday. But understanding Mets fans' commitment even in lean times could come in handy in 2012, what with the team widely expected to be mediocre at best. Lewin cautioned against assuming anything. He recalled a similar situation in 2004, when he was the play-by-play man for the Texas Rangers , who had slashed payroll, including that of shortstop Alex Rodriguez . Those Rangers improved from 71 victories in 2003 to 89 and finished third, three games behind the AL West lead. "There were zero expectations that year, everyone crying about the payroll and kind of negative," Lewin said. "I'm not going to make any wacky predictions, but I've seen this movie before and it came really, really close to a happy ending . . . At the risk of being Pollyanna, I don't think it will be terrible." Lewin's status as a lifelong Mets fan and an East Coast native is a key point. His predecessor, Wayne Hagin, whose contract was not renewed after four seasons, generally was well-liked and respected. But he never struck a chord with Mets fans in his first career job east of the Mississippi River . Even as Lewin made stops with the Orioles, Cubs, Tigers and Rangers, he kept a close eye on the Mets. After parting ways with the Rangers following the 2010 season, he would have been content to spend two or three years doing his sports talk show in Dallas, calling national baseball games for Fox and working in the San Diego Chargers ' radio booth. Then the Mets gig came along. "Not to blow smoke, but it's the FAN and it's the Mets," he said. "How often does this job open?" Lewin said he was looking forward to returning to radio baseball after nine years on TV for the Rangers. He would not go into detail about the end of his term with the team, describing it as a "very amicable mutual parting of ways." But he hinted his style of "informing and entertaining and telling a lot of stories" no longer was a fit. That should not be a problem in the Mets' radio booth, where Rose is adept at mixing kibitzing with play-by-play. Lewin said he feels as if he knows Rose well from listening to him since WFAN's early years, when he was "tooling around in my little Honda , interning for the Rochester Red Wings" listening to Pete Franklin, Steve Somers and Bob Murphy . After growing up listening to Murphy, he said, the thought that "Wow, that's kind of the job that I have" was too good to pass up. Lewin, 43, will give up his job with Fox but keep the one with the Chargers by saving his days off for NFL Sundays. What if the Mets make the playoffs? "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," he said.

Mets confirm they will wear a patch portraying 8 and home plate this season.

MetFairy and I visited a small, elegant exhibition of baseball cards at the Met (as opposed to the Mets) yesterday. The theme was the players who broke the color barrier. You've seen pictures, probably, of cards from that era (late '40s Bowman, early '50s Topps), but to see them up close, even behind glass, was incredibly moving. I'll let the Fairy post her pics if she's so inclined, but it's worth the trip if you're in the neighborhood. Exhibition runs to mid-June.

Six brilliant minutes. Thanks MW-P. Having known him since before the "Chinese restaurant" days (we first met in a Verizon garage on the West side; there were eight of us), I feel safe in predicting Bill Kent, firsthand witness to Ernie Lombardi's temper and all, will outlast the lot of us.

"We really had something special there." The Kid, on his Mets, via ESPN.

Paul Lukas, as if eavesdropping, explores Spring Training caps.

This thread title would be a good name for the first beer concession you see when you walk into a ballpark.

His emergence from the bullpen in a Mets uniform for the first time since 1999 on a Monday night at Citi Field was an early high point to a season that promised few in April. Morons were doing the wave as he was announced, but those of us paying attention were whisked away to days of promise, albeit unfulfilled. Mostly didn't suck until he kind of totally did. Good luck keeping at it, however.

Jason Isringhausen, on the side of the Angels. Oq1nAQOQaSU

Those caps are a horror show and Jeff is Jeff, but good to see Jay up on his feet again.

Seven suckers...I mean minority investors reportedly lined up.

From PBAU, via Araton. �Everybody knew he wanted to manage in the major leagues and we were worried that he�d get an offer and it�d be one and done,� said Joe Cole, who had driven up for the game from Fort Lauderdale. Carter made them a promise: he would only leave to manage � not coach � in the majors. But under circumstances unforeseen and heart-wrenching, Kelly�s and Cole�s sons still only got to play one year for him. William M. B. Fleming Jr., the interim president of Palm Beach Atlantic, a faith-based university of about 3,700 students in downtown West Palm Beach, had known Carter for about 20 years when he agreed to become the coach. Yes, managing in the majors remained an ambition, Fleming said. But he also believed that the birth of a granddaughter � Carter�s daughter Kimmy Bloemers is the university�s softball coach � meant there would be no more chasing the dream in places leading to nowhere. �He sensed it was time to be at home with his family, no more Long Island Ducks or Orange County Flyers,� Fleming said.

The Jackson Mets?

Palm Beach Atlantic team to take the field with 8 players to honor their coach.

Mookie Wilson to rove and instruct in 2012.

7 on a coach is almost a compromise, the more I think about it. Kind of hiding it in plain sight.

No hesitation, says an MBTN-uncrediting Adam Rubin. Geren in 7. Sort of tacky, sort of not. More than not. He's a coach.