G-Fafif

Howie returns Monday night. His eldest daughter (if he has more than one) is 22 this year, so maybe there was a college graduation. I remember him skipping out on Mets Extra the weekend of her birth in July 1989 -- Sid struck out 16 Braves but got beat by Lonnie Smith. Or as Howie would refer to it, "when my daughter was born."

I somehow missed the premiere of Mets Yearbook: 1977 on Thursday evening, but was fortunate enough to catch a rebroadcast not long after today's game -- more fortunate than I was to experience the 1977 season in full. Lots of Mets in leather jackets, enunciating poorly. The BS level is off the charts, as Joe Torre convinces us that he's stopped thinking of what happened on June 15 as the Tom Seaver Trade and instead views it as the Steve Henderson Trade (many excited allusions to the "new look pitching staff". Also lots of non-Shea set pieces: Joe riding horses with his family; Ed Kranepool criticizing the state of the James Monroe High School ball field while standing amid its rocks and pebbles. They get to 16-year veteran Ed early, which is never a good sign. Inspiring story, however, regarding Jackson Todd's overcoming cancer (with a 'fro that outdoes Doug Flynn's; Flynn's pissed that he can't afford a house in New York), and a little fun with the blackout, if not the looting. Set your DVRs for 1:30 PM Tuesday for another run. If you're of the proper vintage to recall '77, of course you want to miss it. And if you're not, attempt to discern what the fuss is all about.

The afternoon after the big Huey Lewis concert at PNC Park, let's see if the Mets can show some heart and soul. Or will Chris Capuano be seeking a new drug?

METS ALL-TIME HIT LEADERS Through 6/11/2011 1. Ed Kranepool 1,418 2. JOSE REYES 1,210 3. Cleon Jones 1,188 4. DAVID WRIGHT 1,182

Dickey 4.0 Tejada 2.0 Reyes 1.5 Beltran 1.5 Duda 1.0

Box

Land ho! Or whatever ho! Jose Reyes - SS Ruben Tejada - 2B Carlos Beltran - RF Daniel Murphy - 3B Angel Pagan - CF Jason Bay - LF Lucas Duda - 1B Ronny Paulino - C R.A. Dickey - RHP

I can't believe Jason Bay has been benched from his own thread.

Gee 4.0 Pagan 2.0 Reyes 2.0 Thole 0.5 Duda 0.5 Turner 0.5 Beltran 0.5

Box

METS ALL-TIME HIT LEADERS Through 6/10/2011 1. Ed Kranepool 1,418 2. JOSE REYES 1,208 3. Cleon Jones 1,188 4. DAVID WRIGHT 1,182

Jose back on track, snapping his interminable 0-for-7 slump.

Crazy, I tell you, what goes on in this edition! 058: 1977 -- Could Tom Seaver be pitching his final game as a Met? 059: 1999 -- Is that Bobby Valentine in the dugout even though he was ejected? 060: 2000 -- Mike Piazza can't tell Roger Clemens from Todd Erdos; can you? Alternately... 058: 1998 -- Rick Reed flirts with perfection 059: 2003 -- John Olerud returns in a strange uniform 060: 1985 -- Ron Darling starts turning the tables on the Cubs

Niese 4.5 Pridie 2.0 Tejada 1.0 Pagan 0.5 Murphy 0.5 Rodriguez 0.5 Beltran 0.5 Thole 0.5

Everybody in the starting lineup, please step forward... Not so fast there, Bay. Jose Reyes, ss Justin Turner, 3b Carlos Beltran, rf Daniel Murphy, 1b Angel Pagan, cf Jason Pridie, lf Josh Thole, c Ruben Tejada, 2b Jon Niese, lhp

It's been Jose since the summer of 2003, or about the time I realized I might want to diversify my Jason Phillips-heavy portfolio. In terms of contemporary MetCrush, it's totally Tejada. Last year at this time it was mostly Ike, who was making something of a move on Jose, but I'm pretty loyal to my guys as long as they're here, and even afterwards. ALFONZO 13 is still in regular rotation and probably always will be. Seaver. Gooden. Brogna. Alfonzo. Reyes. That's my chronology. Gap between Seaver and Gooden indicates I never fully accepted Seaver as not a Met.

One of my first: Didn't quite nail the "Pagan" pronunciation when I inherited it and other '67 Topps from my sister a year after it was issued. I'm guessing I wasn't altogether nimble on "Jose" either.

bmfc1 wrote: I'm confused as to why O'Connor was sent down (lefty) and why Thayer (a mustachioed Parnell) was kept. I know that O'Connor had a few bad outings in a row but I wished that he was around to pitch to Fielder. What are the odds Parnell will ever be known as a clean-shaven Thayer?

Jim Northrup, 71, Tigers mainstay.

Jose Pagan, 76, Giant and Pirate World Series star.

TransMonk wrote: It is a pretty great ballpark for beer and a decent one for food. I dislike the architecture and design (especially the roof and lighting), but the sightlines are all good and the Brewers do an awesome job of making it their own. One onetime visitor agrees heartily.

Retractable roofs don't always entirely tract. The BOB famously wouldn't completely shut during the ninth inning of the seventh game of the 2001 World Series (a.k.a. Nirvana).

I just noticed Misplaced Enthusiasm Thread is M.E.T.

Last night was the Brewers fifth walkoff win against the Mets since 2005. 2005: JJ Hardy walkoff pinch-hit single 2006: Bill Hall walkoff HR - I was there, it sucked. 2007: Geoff Jenkins walkoff HR in Tom Glavine's first bid for 300 wins - I was there it sucked. 2008: Mets sweep - I was there, it was great. 2009: No walk off 2010: Corey Hart walk off HR breaks 0-0 tie 2011: Nyjer Morgan walk off double I'm starting to dread the Mets coming to Miller Park. I'm predicting a blowout one way or another for Thursday. Thank you (sort of) for cataloguing these because after the Mets took a 6-2 lead and all seemed rosy, I was thinking this could still go awry because I was pretty certain it had gone awry a lot in the recent past but didn't have the industriousness to look it up. What Turner Field was for too long and Pac Bell was at its opening, Joe Robbie/Whatever Stadium and Miller Park have become in recent times: Met death traps. And the one time we sweep them, what happens? They snatch the 2008 wild card away at the last minute.

Enjoyed a Leinenkugel Honey Weiss when last at Miller Park. But Sprecher makes a damn fine root beer, indeed.