G-Fafif

batmagadanleadoff wrote: What's funnier than the rogues' gallery of owners photos posted above is that you all think that the Wilpons are better. Over at the Billy Grabarkewitz Board or wherever seasoned Dodger fans engage and amuse each other, I can't imagine the Wilpons' pictures wouldn't have gone up in their "it could be worse than the McCourts" thread. Maybe it wouldn't have gone up immediately (or three years ago), but Fred and Jeff have probably arrived on the grand stage of oh no owners. Not that it isn't an extraordinarily immense stage.

Oh, wait...

bmfc1 wrote: Nobody should read too much into Ollie's outing as the Cardinals only brought one regular player today so he was mostly facing minor leaguers. In that case, Ollie retroactively refuses this de facto minor league assignment.

Ralph's voice, floating out of a speaker, for the 50th consecutive Mets year. Per Ice Cube, today is a good day.

If you'll excuse the expression, great article by Dick Young, here.

Not that real life didn't shine a harsh light on what many of those Mets were up to when the sun went down, but Pearlman's book -- which I liked a great deal and is obviously a cornerstone of the Mets canon -- really changed the conversation about that team, from "excellent team that got a little lucky when it mattered most" to "what wild men and carousers who blew their dynasty!" That viewpoint is reflected in (and kind of overwhelms) the MSG series that msg.com piece is intended to accompany.

A Boy Named Seo wrote: That was excellent, Greg. My new fav stat of all time: ... more than 37 percent of the time, the �86 Mets won nearly 92 percent of their games That's better than beating Shelbyville at football nearly half the time. Thanks. I call it SheaberMetrics. (For about the last 20 seconds, I have.) Also, did you guys see Pearlman's response to MGiM's review of his book? That was pretty chill of him, even if he did seem to make a name up for MGiM. I'd be more impressed if he hadn't call him "Mike," but that was more chill than chilly.

TransMonk wrote: From the title, I was hoping this was going to be the new 2011 injury thread.! I wouldn't mind that at all, actually.

Jay Jay French of Twisted Sister*... �Isn�t it nice to turn on the television and not have to worry? If they may lose this evening, they�re still 20 games ahead � I mean, think about that: 20 games ahead! Even if they lose once in a while! I mean, that�s what you call luxury!� ...and I remember the lush life that was the 1986 Mets, at msg.com. *As if MGIM needs the asterisk

His performance demands negativity. His attitude demands hope. Joe Posnanski falls for Jeff Francoeur...sort of.

metirish wrote: There was plenty written about the Rangers getting a sub from MLB last year , if this were the MFY's it would be a bigger story probably and Mike Lupica would have a column every day about it , and all of them would start like this " This was back when the Boss roamed the hallways at the old Yankee Stadium at E 161st Street & River Avenue ........." And there was an accountant named Murray. Can't remember his last name, but Murray always looked worried. The hubris in the House of Steinbrenner was unmistakable, but Murray didn't share it. "I dunno," he said one day to nobody in particular. "I just dunno." Now, thanks to some sharp-eyed functionaries at the Fifth Avenue offices of Major League Baseball, we do know what Murray meant. And so do Hank and Hal, the sons who were left a set of books that didn't quite tell the whole story of what their father sold for so long as Power and Pride in Pinstripes.

seawolf17 wrote: I want to buy a box of 1985 Topps commons and teach MiniWolf how to flip. Not old-skool flip, but flip like we did in the mid-80s, with colors. That's how I came to build my complete 1975 set.

TV Land recently reran the Everybody Loves Raymond that features a bunch of 1969 Mets. How frigging odd to see Tug McGraw wearing a 1994 tail jersey. It had the Miracle Mets commemorative patch, but that only served to remind me of 1994, not 1969. Come to think of it, the Mets in that ep (Jones, Agee, Swoboda, Shamsky, Kranepool, Harrelson, McGraw and Grote) wore a melange of unis they'd apparently collected across various Old Timers Days and reunions -- you'd think Jay could have asked Charlie to send them a matching set for their closeup.

When things are going badly, you put your best face forward. In the case of the Mets' executive suite, non-baseball wing, that face is haggard and bespectacled and has been around.

Ceetar wrote: G-Fafif wrote: Mets fans think so highly of Jay Horwitz they feel often compelled to give him an extra 'o' for his last name. No, i just suck at spelling. Weren't you reading the Scrabble thread? Missed that, but thanks for fixing since it's all I can do to keep it straight and not turn Jay Horwitz into a matzoh fortune heir. Which would really impress that girl from high school.

Mets fans think so highly of Jay Horwitz they feel often compelled to give him an extra 'o' for his last name.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I'm having a baseball card chuck-up there too. I remember those! Hell would break loose on the fifth grade bus home. But such pre-adolescent madness did help me fill out my 1974 set. I'll never forget the scrawny kid behind me who made the mistake of yelling, "I got a Pete Rose!" who, in a matter of seconds, had one-eighth of a Pete Rose.

Leaning yes.

Izzy wears that been around the block look in 2011 that Duke Snider carried in 1963. Which is perfectly reasonable but a bit jarring considering it's always 1995 in my mind when Izzy appears.

Beltran -- which would hew perfectly to the whoever plays the most RF one year isn't here any longer by the end of the following year. And I don't expect him here come October 2012.

He'll do what's best for the team.

Let us not forget Joe Pignatano. No doubt Duke epitomized those Dodgers as few others did, but I don't believe the book is ever closed on something you care about. Brooklyn Dodgers fans have kept the book open 54 years after the library closed (so to speak) and it will remain open as long as those who loved them remember them. The stories will outlast those scripted their endings.

Ralph Branca just on FAN remembering the Duke...so he's still going, too. He's also still bitter, but it's only been 60 years. Give him another 60 and he'll probably mellow.

I expect he's our new right fielder -- 'cause he is. Carlos Beltran approached Terry Collins early Monday morning upon arriving at the New York Mets' spring-training complex and told his manager: "I need to talk to you." Beltran then informed his manager he wanted to initiate the long-debated move from center field to right field. "I came today thinking in my heart, 'I still think I can play center field,' " Beltran said. "But, at the same time, this is not about Carlos. This is about team." At 8:20 a.m., Angel Pagan was summoned into the manager's office with Beltran and Collins for a five-minute meeting. Pagan, who capably played center field in Beltran's absence during the first half of last season as Beltran recovered from Jan. 13, 2010 arthroscopic knee surgery, then was informed he would be playing center field with Beltran in right field, rather than the opposite alignment. Beltran said the preemptive move avoids a last-minute switch on the eve of the season and prevents weeks of media discussion about the potential move in between. "In order for me to play center field, I need more time," Beltran said. "I want to be on the same page with everyone here. I want Terry to have his time and to come to the ballpark ready to play the lineup without thinking where he is going to play Pagan, where he's going to play me. At the same time I'm thinking about Pagan coming to the ballpark and preparing himself and focused to play baseball. I don't want to create any distractions here. Like I said, I want to play right. I think it's best for the team. I think it's going to be best for me also, best for my knee. It's going to be less active than playing center field." If he feels he can't play it, then this is the right (no pun) move. But it saddens me nonetheless. Lion in winter and all that.

Not much standing in left to do for the retired Gene Hackman.