G-Fafif

Yay, Choo Choo! (Despite inadvertent douche chills unleashed by use of Carlos Ruiz's nickname above.) He always seemed mysterious and almost foreboding to me in that there were these anecdotes from the attic and never anything about what happened later. Glad to find out he is, per Vecsey, "sweet and as decent as ever." A little more Colemania from the diligent Nick Diunte at examiner.com.

Made a fantastic diving catch in St. Louis in September that provoked the question, "Well, where was this all year long?" Gave that unfortunate sound bite to MASN about missing being on the Nationals while sucking for the Mets which led every Mets fan and his/her uncle to suggest he go back there if he liked it so much. Was gratified to glean toward season's end that he had brought his Veteran Leader skills to bear (like in the Jose curtain call situation). I kind of thought that would be what he'd be good for. Good luck with the next step in the journey. Don't use your one hot streak on us.

Mets Yearbook: 2011, to be rerun tonight at 6 and Wednesday at 2:30 PM, is a well-meaning attempt to capture a fraction of the spirit of the old highlight films. It's missing the spectacular cheesiness that marked basically all of them from the early '60s to the early '80s, but the team being featured can certainly hold its own against the 1963 and 1982 editions (rim shot!). Undermining the Guys!-narrated production is its surfeit of journalistic integrity, not pretending, for example, that Reyes and Beltran never existed while banging the drum for Jackson Todd...I mean Zack Wheeler. Plenty of Reyes and Beltran, actually...to the point, really, where I was getting bummed out all over again that there'll be none in 2012. It occurs to me what was missing (besides the sense of fun the filter of hindsight attaches to stuff like this) was the ol' "it's always a great time at the ballgame!" factor. Every one of those darn films told us how great Helmet Day, Dairylea Day, Whatever Day (and, of course, Banner Day) was. The Mets didn't do enough of these in 2011 but they did their share of giveaways. They had fans in the stands wearing wacky getups...or at least colorful team apparel. SNY didn't overly propagandize the 77-85 Mets but it feels like the script went through the Department of Whimsy before it could get to a screen near you. Record it, save it for a few years and watch it again when 2011 holds the same impossible nostalgic appeal that 1978 does now.

Gary inducted into Mets HOF 8/12/2001. Looked like Kid in a candy store.

The real tipoff came when he expressed surprise that none of his teammates wanted to join him for the early bird special.

And once again, Jes�s Feliciano stares coldly at Omir Santos for pre-emptively stealing all his glory.

seawolf17 wrote: metirish wrote: Had a game winning HR against Papelbon and Boston one Friday night IIRC. You're conflating him with Omir Santos. Or as my wife calls him, Omar Sanchez.

metirish wrote: Had a game winning HR against Papelbon and Boston one Friday night IIRC. Or he tripled and scored the winning run against the Diamondbacks on a Saturday night at Shea. Ensured the Mets would lead the league in Felicianos. His being dropped from the 40-man pretty quickly after being no worse than anybody else in 2010 seemed to signal there was a new sheriff in town and that Omar's fringe players could get lost.

In the montage of vintage footage it uses to set up every episode, the January 18 episode of ABC's The Middle (the best sitcom you're not watching) featured a clip of Shea Stadium under construction to help evoke the excitement of the Super Bowl coming to Indianapolis (near where the show is set).

Nyack native Marty Springstead, 74. longtime AL umpire who worked the plate in Games One and Seven of the 1973 World Series. Reported "found dead at his home in Florida," January 17. (2011 thread here.)

Seawolf and Valadius SAY they are going to have their parodies up soon, but they NEVER post them. What are they hiding? This message paid for by Just Curious, which is not affiliated with any parodist, but is just curious.

J.J. Putz: "Doctors advised J.J. Putz to have bone chips removed from elbow, which would've cost 6 weeks. Mets said shoot him w/ cortisone. He tore UCL." Billy Wagner: "Mets exec calling Billy Wagner a wimp for complaining of elbow discomfort during sim game in Pittsburgh. Wagner needed Tommy John surgery." Ryan Church: "Thanks for reminding me about Ryan Church flying from Atlanta to Colorado with concussion. He said he felt like boater bobbing on Bering Sea" Johan Santana: "They announced Johan had pec strain and let him throw bullpen at Wrigley Field before diagnosing torn anterior capsule." Jose Reyes: "Found oldie: Early in Reyes career, Mets wanted him tougher. They had Art Howe tell him 'spit on it' to injury. Had undiagnosed fibula break" Brian Schneider: "Ryan Church says to Brian Schneider, 'Your knee looks swollen. Go see trainer.' Schneider to Church: 'They don't want to hear it.'" Ike Davis: "Except for the fact diagnosis of cartilage damage originally was missed and a boot Ike then wore constricted circulation and stalled healing" Tom Seaver: �Always take up two parking places.� Yogi Berra: �Berry, berry bad card player.� Ed Kranepool: �Borrow Chico�s soap and never give it back.�

There is a strain of blog reader who tends to cut through the esoterica and to the chase. I don't care what they wear/where they play/how the broadcasts sound as long as they win. It's kind of an all-purpose comment from people who can't wait long enough for the hardcore baseball posts, so they jump in at will. The Wilpon situation is the proxy for that right now, not without pretty good reason.

They could keep him with the intent of re-signing him beyond 2013 and using him as a rebuilding block and a legacy player. Legacy player...is that a thing?

How is it possible that this particular position has, since 2006, attracted nothing but dreck or prospective dreck?

Kid made it to his golf tournament. By JOE CAPOZZI Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Updated: 11:15 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012 Posted: 10:25 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012 The Kid rallied again Sunday night. Just as he has done at the 25 previous events he has hosted, Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter welcomed more than 150 friends with hugs and smiles at a kick-off dinner for his 26th annual charity golf tournament. He made them laugh, too - with an assist from his wife, Sandy. Carter was seven minutes into his welcoming remarks at the Ironhorse Country Club when Sandy nudged him and whispered, "Let's eat!" "That's my wife and she knows that I talk too much, so that's it for me,' Carter said as the crowd broke into laughter. Carter's presence at the dinner was a welcomed and pleasant surprise to his friends. He was diagnosed with brain cancer in May, and many supporters wondered if he'd be well enough to attend. "I tip my hat to him,' said Davey Johnson, who managed Carter with the 1986 World Series champion New York Mets, "because if it was me, I'd probably go off and hide in my house.' Carter, 57, didn't want to hide. And he mentioned his illness only briefly in his remarks when he thanked his wife for helping with his charity "and how much she has done for me to this point with my cancer,' he said. "And I just pray that God will continue to help me because I want to continue to help in any capacity that I can.' Carter sounded like his usual self, but his cadence was slower and he was too weak to stand at the podium. Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer welcomed the crowd then passed the microphone to Carter's table, where was surrounded by his family. "I have been doing this golf tournament for 26 years now and I am so thankful and so grateful to all of you here,' Carter said. The tournament is raising money for literacy in Palm Beach County schools and for the Autism Project of Palm Beach County. But Carter explained to the crowd how the tournament in its early years raised money for leukemia, which killed his mother when he was just 12. He said the mission switched to juvenile diabetes and then later to autism after his grandson was diagnosed with the disorder. "Let me tell you what - it is an unbelievable journey if you know about an autistic child. That's my journey now is to help my grandson as much as I can,' Carter said, his voice breaking with emotion at one point. Many in attendance were overwhelmed by Carter's remarks, in particular by the enthusiasm he showed for fighting autism even though he personally is batting cancer. "Talk about a guy who's not selfish one bit,' said golfer Michelle McGann. "You can't really say enough good things about Gary, and to have to see him suffer like this has, it has really caught our attention.' Carter, who was not made available to a reporter, did not attend the pre-dinner cocktail reception as he has done in previous years. He arrived early in the banquet room, where friends and former teammates were ushered in one by one to speak with him in private. "I'm not feeling all that good,' Carter said in his dinner remarks, apologizing for not participating in the golf tournament that will he held today. "I'm going to be out there in the morning and kick you guys off and then I want to come back for the awards presentation.'

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Fonzie missed out on the ballot because only ONE writer nominated him for the honor Fitting that someone perversely hailed for being underrated when he was at his peak -- a millennial Joe Rudi, if you will -- goes underrated in the simple act of sticking his name on the ballot. The failure of one lousy seconded! to materialize seems an appropriate career bookend to Joe Buck, during a 1997 Fox broadcast, expressing astonishment that Tim McCarver would rate Fonzie as the best third baseman in the National League, and then have to adjust his astonishment when Fonzie homered a couple of innings later. Out of respect for the eternally underrated Fonzie, that disregard riles my Met blood more than Chass casually equating Mike with the Under A Cloud muscleheads. Rudi, BTW, made the 1988 ballot and received no votes despite being contemporarily pointed to year in and year out as the key to the success of the A's dynasty. But he did make the ballot.

Per Chris Rock, is school going to be open on Derek Jeter's birthday? And how about that headline? "Derek Jeter Embodies MLK's Dream" may be a bit of a reach. A more appropriate one would have been: Columnist Stuck for Monday Topic

I wonder if Bobby Ojeda is still pissed off about all this.

Go to 23:57 of Any Wednesday, the 1966 Manhattan romance romp, to find out where Jane Fonda suggests she and Jason Robards can cheat on his wife. CcxRQhDKwHQ

Especially when City Hall hosts a celebration for your 1969 Mets -- via footage exhumed by WNYC's City Classics. Great footage from 10/20/1969 (ignore the incorrect date in the graphics) starts at 1:10 and goes to 3:50 (show takes a sharp downward turn a couple of seconds later). Includes proto-Wifey Watch.

And Jon Huntsman says finishing third in New Hampshire after campaigning there for a year is a ticket to ride.

metirish wrote: attgig wrote: so, has anyone on here ponied up the cash and attended the fantasy camp? our own bmfc went in 2009, wrote a diary IIRC, And he was kind enough to chronicle his journey for FAFIF, indexed here.

It slipped in under the radar (on the off chance that any radar is directed at news like this), but approximately six weeks ago, Luis Hernandez signed a minor league deal with the Rangers, meaning that one of the multitude of second basemen who couldn't beat Chin-lung Hu and Brad Emaus out of an Opening Day roster spot in 2011 had his last official Met act the hitting of a home run with a broken foot. So it takes a while to confirm, but the man went out on a high note.

Edgy DC wrote: Melvin Mora denies he's retired, and so returns to this thread.