G-Fafif

Centerfield wrote: Question for G-Fafif: Did you already assemble the list? Or are you working on it as the season goes on? Aside from #1 and #163 (the two easiest choices), I wonder what other games were "obvious picks" and what ones were the toughest to figure out. Matt Franco beating Mariano Rivera, rallying in the 9th against Curt Schilling, Gooden's 1 hitter against Chicago, July 4th game in Atlanta, and the game after the September 11 attacks would be my picks as locks. Stay tuned...

If Mets management were smart, they'd add David Wright Ball Day to the promotional calendar. But that's if Mets management were smart.

Edgy DC wrote: I still keep a jar of vomit on my desk from when I read that the first time. That's not vomit. That's Jeter Juice, the official byproduct of winning.

Nice update from Rubin: http://proxy.espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/19857/all-wright-moment I note this line from David: Surprised to learn a video existed, Wright expressed concern it would be viewed as motivated by seeking publicity. Jeter wouldn't have such concerns. Jeter would have demanded the kid swallow a spoonful of cinnamon if he wanted an extra toss. For the Gatorade commercial, Jeter was shot in super-slow-motion high definition by a camera moving along a track as he made his trademark jump throw, a leaping throw to first base deep from the shortstop hole. The shot was spectacular to the point of artistry, a kind of Baryshnikov meets The Matrix. "It's almost perfect," gushed the young, enthusiastic director, Adam Berg. Almost. The director tried more takes. Jeter finally presented Berg with a proposal. "I told you I would do five jumps and three slides," Jeter said, referring to another scene in which he slid into second base. "But I'll make you a deal: I'll do 10 jumps and six slides, and all you have to do is swallow one spoonful of cinnamon. If not, five and three. Just one spoonful." "With water?" Berg asked. "Only after you swallow it." [...] Somebody fetched a plastic spoon and a jar of cinnamon. Jeter allowed Berg to examine them, then loaded the spoon with the spice, doing his level best to maintain an air of seriousness. He had arranged similar wagers earlier this year with teammate Brian Bruney and then one of the clubhouse attendants, not to be confused with his other favorite wager that involves asking someone if they think they can eat five saltines in one minute. Berg couldn't believe his luck; all he had to do was swallow the cinnamon and Jeter would have to give him 10 takes toward getting the perfect jump-throw shot. As soon as Berg shoved the spoon in his mouth, Jeter jumped away laughing. Quickly, Berg gagged, his cheeks puffed, his eyes watered and cinnamon smoke began spewing from a crack in his pursed lips. He looked like a man about to burst. Berg grabbed a bottle of water and began gulping from it. "That's it!" Jeter shouted. "You lose! The deal was no water until you swallowed it." After several minutes to recover, Berg asked Tiernan, "He's not serious, is he?" "Oh, he's serious," Tiernan replied. Another victory, however small, for Derek Jeter, today's superstar most synonymous with winning. But none of the accoutrements of his success�the five rings, the $189 million contract, the national endorsements and the starlet on his arm�capture the essence of his success. In the difficult days of the Philippines campaign during World War II, General Douglas MacArthur wrote A Father's Prayer, which begins, "Build me a son, O Lord." MacArthur prayed for a son with, among other traits, "humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness." Therein lies true victory. The great wonder is not that Jeter has won so much but that he has won so well. He is the good son, the good winner. They used to talk abut Wright as being the "Jeter of the Mets." No thank you.

Lots of K's, one for the PG and the joys of small sample size in today's The Happiest Recap 013: 1970 -- Seaver strikes out 19, the last 10 in a row 014: 1962 -- Mets win in front of the home folks at last 015: 1978 -- A lovely April stretch lands the team in first

Ceetar wrote: G-Fafif wrote: Eight years of following every utterance Darryl Strawberry made and the only time I ever heard him say anything remotely related to baseball, not just himself, was when he dismissed the notion he would hold against newly acquired Jeff Musselman the incident in which the then-Blue Jay hit him in Spring Training and Straw went after him. "You don't do that to a teammate," Straw said, and I thought, "Wow, I never heard Darryl hold forth on baseball etiquette or baseball anything before." Probably knew more than he was letting on. Probably knows more now than we could possibly imagine. I'm waiting for his Canseco-level expose on the late 90s Yankees. That would make his fleeting MFYness totally worth it.

Eight years of following every utterance Darryl Strawberry made and the only time I ever heard him say anything remotely related to baseball, not just himself, was when he dismissed the notion he would hold against newly acquired Jeff Musselman the incident in which the then-Blue Jay hit him in Spring Training and Straw went after him. "You don't do that to a teammate," Straw said, and I thought, "Wow, I never heard Darryl hold forth on baseball etiquette or baseball anything before." Probably knew more than he was letting on. Probably knows more now than we could possibly imagine.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Playing catch with Atlanta-kid fans during pregame warmups (courtesy Adam Rubin). TRAID DAVID WRONG ALLEGIANCES! I like that your character can't spell "trade" but has no problem with "allegiances". It's as if your Dickey is showing and you can't quite tuck it back in.

And from better times for the proprietor in Southern California, continuing the 1986 Mets can (or thought they could) put their names on anything... (Somehow I expect there's an "official" Lenny Dykstra Bikini Inspector Team shirt available, too.) Lenny Dykstra's Car Wash & Auto Repair 1144 E Los Angeles Ave Simi Valley, CA 93065 805/581-9300 Mixed reviews at the Corona, CA, location.

The short-lived... Lee Mazzilli's Sports Cafe 208 W. 70th St. New York, NY 10023 Opened in 1994. Closed in 1994. Victim of the baseball strike and NHL lockout. New York Magazine described "Maz's Mezzanine" as featuring 22 photos, including one framed in neon; seven "Maz" dishes, including Mama Mazzilli's tomato-and-basil linguine; and the presence of the restaurant's namesake (he didn't actually own a piece; accepted a fee for use of his name) two to three times a week. He came in for Monday Night Football. What it was meant to be, per the Times: Lee Mazzilli, the former New York Mets outfielder, is a partner in Lee Mazzilli's Sports Cafe, which will open at 208 West 70th Street in mid-May. It is a cavernous place that will have 350 seats, 50 television screens, a sports memorabilia shop and an area with games for children. Mr. Mazzilli said it will be a "family-oriented place where people can bring their kids." He described the food as American with Italian flair. The chef, Lucius Cherokee Wyatt, worked at Fat Tuesday's and the Statler-Hilton Hotel. Mr. Mazzilli's partners are Peter Kramer, a sports marketer who works with athletes, and Wendie Markman, who owns a large dairy. What actually was, a few months later: Peter Kramer opened Lee Mazzilli's Sports Cafe on the Upper West Side in June, the week the Rangers won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 54 years. The Yankees seemed destined for the American League playoffs and maybe even the World Series. Mr. Kramer's long oak bar was crowded. The tables in the back were filled with neck-craning fans, staring up at the 100-channel video screens. What a difference a baseball strike can make. Not to mention a hockey lockout. "No baseball, no hockey, maybe no basketball," said Mr. Kramer, Lee Mazzilli's managing general partner. "It's like we put a jinx on sports." [...] After spending $500,000 for renovations in the spring, turning a storefront at 208 West 70th Street into a sports restaurant, with baseball bats on the ceiling and autographed photos of players on the walls, Mr. Kramer estimated that business was 50 percent below his first-year projections. He had expected to take in up to $2 million in his first 12 months. He had also expected 28 days of sold-out business from the playoffs and World Series. Instead, at 11 P.M. last Friday, he had 18 customers in a restaurant that seats 350. [...] Until football started in early September, he said, there were nights when last call was between 9 and 10. And nights that cricket or croquet might have seemed more exciting than what was on television. "I had nights I had bowling on," said Mr. Kramer. "We must have watched the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier match a hundred times already. We must have watched the '86 World Series, with Lee at home plate with the tying run, a thousand times." That alone, one would figure, would be a winning theme unto itself. Can't believe it didn't work.

Strawberry's Sports Grill 42-15 235th Street Douglaston, NY 11363 718/517-8787

Worth watching for Knepper's ongoing regret that the game got away. Astrofreude and all that. One play I'd forgotten about, if I ever noticed it when it happened, was the 5-6 putout that ended the bottom of the fifth. Doran was on second with two out. Hatcher tapped a tricky bouncer toward third, which Knight had to charge. It was going to be difficult to throw out the runner at first. Meanwhile, behind Knight, Doran was racing toward and around third, but Santana trailed him. Instead of trying to get Hatcher, which almost certainly would have not worked and which just as almost as certainly allowed Doran to score and make it 4-0, Knight turned and threw to Santana. Doran slammed on the brakes past third and tried to dive back in, but Santana tagged him easily. In retrospect, it was a phenomenal play (for which other shortstops would be immortalized had they done it a generation later, but never mind that). Between that heads-up bit of defense (and Astro screwup) and the Ashby squeeze that went awry and caught Bass between third and home in the first, Knepper all but buried his head in his hands. Strawberry came off in this as Mr. Baseball, which always amuses me since during the entirety of his Met career, he never seemed particularly introspective about the fundamentals of the game nor conscious of its finer points. The Darryl who presents himself in these forums nowadays would make a helluva manager. Or restaurant owner. Nice to see Jesse, too. He still looks tired from those three innings. No. 4 on this countdown will be, as Gwreck predicted, Pirates-Braves Game 7 from 1992.

Dismayed by R.A. Dickey revealing winter plans, assumed season was already over.

Thole 2.5 Gee 2.0 Reyes 2.0 Dickey 1.0 Capuano 0.5 Isringhausen 0.5 Davis 0.5 Rodriguez 0.5 Beltran 0.5

Bumping because it will be a great way to top off a Sunday when the Mets break a seven-game losing streak. (Or whatever). Mets-Astros, Game Six, 1986 NLCS, in the 90-minute spotlight on MLB Network's Greatest Games series, tonight at 7 PM EDT, repeated at midnight and 3:30 AM (technically Monday morning if you're recording). Orosco, Strawberry and Knepper guest.

dgwphotography wrote: I feel that Citi Field is nothing more than a house of avarice. House of Avarice is the Official Greed Sponsor of the New York Mets. Howie mentions in the fourth inning every night.

Those who will go: Jose Reyes - SS Josh Thole - C David Wright - 3B Carlos Beltran - RF Ike Davis - 1B Angel Pagan - CF Willie Harris - LF Brad Emaus - 2B Dillon Gee - P

Not a genius, just a penchant for thinking before answering and a vocabulary that goes eight almost every time out. If the knuckleball doesn't fight through its chaotic nature (et al), something tells me he'll be inquired upon less frequently and Bobby O can move on to blaming, say, Bobby Parnell for not using more syllables. You're letting your team down on the mound and then you can't even give a decent accounting of yourself after the game when everybody's listening to you and waits for you to step up? I'm sorry, but there's a code that says you tell the media what's on your mind and you do it thoroughly. I know some of the guys on the team are from Latin America, but Parnell doesn't have that excuse. He has to say more than, 'I was bad.' It's getting old and Terry -- and Jay Horwitz -- have to address the clubhouse before it gets out of hand. While Collins's presumed use of Valium has diminished his postgame entertainment value, I must admit that in lieu of wins, Ojeda taking off in bizarre directions has become the best thing about Mets baseball.

I'm pretty sure Dickey could have intelligently declined the in-game interview. "I'm sorry, but given the morbid state of our offense and the deplorable results gleaned from our pitching staff this week, I believe it is in our team's best interest to refrain from tiresome and middling interviews while the game progresses. I trust you will understand that anything less would be an unfortunately unacceptable distraction from our united efforts to reverse our team's fortunes." Such a non-response response would have deserved its own segment, Fox's Interview Request Refusal of the Week: Brought to you by Celibacy -- When Saying No Is The Right Thing To Do. I assume these things are set up in conjunction with MLB and teams are strongly encouraged to serve up their players. Fox, I also assume, likely asked for Dickey and since he wasn't pitching, there he was. I forget who represented the Braves (someone not talking about his winter plans) but they had a guy doing the tiresome and middling thing in the next half-inning.

Talk less. I'll save the Post the trouble of writing the headline over Joel Sherman's column about the pitcher who decided to not answer questions in his usual articulate and presumably natural manner because things weren't going as well as they had before. KNUCKLEBALLER TURNS KNUCKLEHEAD Dickey, delightful while winning, now a silent loser Though, yes, all players playing lousy on lousy teams tend to seem less charming amid the lousiness. I could live without the in-game interviews altogether, regardless of the subject.

Ashie62 wrote: He looks red, tired, and overmatched..Not managerial material at this level.. He reminds me of a substitue teacher...an ineffectual caretaker. All managers remind me of gym teachers, though Jerry Manuel seemed he was a social studies teacher who the school saddled with phys ed.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Anyone else watching the postgame just to see what he says? More to see how he says it. Tonight's session was a little late. I think he was taking his Valium and doing his pins and needles, needles and pins breathing exercise before facing the interrogation.

Keith's Grill Citi Field 120-01 Roosevelt Ave. Flushing, NY 11368 Home of the natural burger created personally by Mets great KEITH HERNANDEZ.

Beato 2.0 Buchholz 1.0

Harris 1.5 Reyes 1.0 Igarashi 0.5 Parnell 0.5