G-Fafif

Thing is Fernandez really did "earn" the team win, more than McDowell did at any rate.

Even when one knows better, addiction is hard to overcome. I've been addicted to Doc for twenty-six years.

"He Does The Little Things" = Hits .203

"Complex" = Head case on a hot streak "Talented" = Under 27, failed in three different shots at starting job "Quiet Leader" = Morose fellow who got the game-winning hit "Calming Influence" = Not that good at baseball

"Professional" = Old

Figueroa, Misch and Takahashi inspire more immediate confidence than Pelfrey, Perez and Maine as in if I needed three pitchers for three games that counted at this very moment, I'd take the first trio, not the scholarship boys. I'd take them over Niese right now, too, for the short term. Perhaps this is why Spring Training is as long as it is, so though those who are penciled in can match their graphite quotient.

When the HOF inductees were announced in January, I thought "I wish they'd have the ceremony sooner just so I'd know nobody will go AWOL [or DUI, apparently] before then." Then I thought, "nah..."

A lot of 1980 was clearly televised highlights set to film. Cheaper than hiring a couple of guys with cameras at the dawn of the Wilpon era. I'm pretty sure they simply cut it off before getting to the "Do You Believe in Magic?" portion. When SNY began airing these, they had beginnings and ends. Now they're kind of joined and ended where it doesn't look too clumsy. Don't want to downplay on technical points what a trip the '80 Yearbook is. I found myself drawing a straight line from the elation at the notion the Mets could be modestly competent for a few months to why I can never completely dismiss Dwight Gooden as a hopeless case. We were so ready for someone like Doc and a team like that which formed behind him. You can taste it in that 1980 film all over again. I'd forgive almost anybody who rescued us from the Lorinda de Saster. It took me nearly thirty years to accept that Fred Wilpon wasn't eternally good news, and he was only a minority partner.

Frank Deford kicks major ass with his piece on sportswriting in this week's SI here, of note in this thread for the following aside: Institutionally there was real camaraderie among sportswriters, because more than other journalists we traveled together and then wrote en masse, in the press box. I was hardly surprised that last July, when Mets general manager Omar Minaya attacked New York Daily News beat writer Adam Rubin, all Rubin's competitors came passionately to his defense. Sportswriters are rivals, but close ones, like chefs who eat in each other's restaurants. Anyway, wonderful retrospective on The Way It Was, without sappiness or denying that these are the good old days, too. On the subject of beat writers, I've enjoyed David Waldstein's work this spring in the Times. Ken Belson, however, is a bit sloppy and a little too cute

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Hah! Whaddya know? The last minute and 50 seconds of the original higlight film is backed by the Lovin' Spoonful's Do you Believe in Magic. The Magic is Back. Is that the same montage of highlights that appears in the SNY version to production music? If so, gads they're cheap/licensing is expensive. '85 and '86 films were heavy on music video-style montages set to well-known song. I guess Keith Hernandez won't be "The Warrior" when SNY gets its hands on "No Surrender".

Two "real" songs do appear: a cover of "Work to Do" (a hit for the Isleys) and Chuck Mangione's "Children of Sanchez," making me believe SNY didn't recognize either of them.

BML, perhaps you can answer this: In the SNY version (which started two minutes early this afternoon, thus my timed recording comes in slightly late, darn it all to heck) the last scenes are backed by production music. I have a distinct recollection of the actual film using "Do You Believe in Magic?" by the Lovin' Spoonful or perhaps some other song with magic in the title at the end. Any confirmation you can offer? SNY has edited all of these to fit a half-hour time slot because their programming is too important to mess with. (Still, an awesome series nonetheless.)

Kevin Burkhardt on SNY last night referred to Mejia as a near lock to make the team.

Camapalooza, courtesy of Mack's Mets. Salient points besides his Mets fandom: Scouting Report: [E]xceptional blocking skills behind the plate. Strong, accurate arm (2.09 release time). Good left handed hacker at the plate showing good power to all fields. Good prospect to follow as he matures and develops.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: G-Fafif wrote: Bob Murphy, on radio, said with stunnage that Henderson had come out to "take a bow". This may have been the first Shea Stadium curtain call. I don't remember any before (which isn't to say it didn't happen, but it did seem unprecedented). Hendu was prompted to come out for that bow by Gary Carter's locker room telephone call to the Mets hero. It was Carter's idea. I stand corrected.

Reflections on Sammy Drake and Mets with Negro League experience here.

Bob Murphy, on radio, said with stunnage that Henderson had come out to "take a bow". This may have been the first Shea Stadium curtain call. I don't remember any before (which isn't to say it didn't happen, but it did seem unprecedented).

From the release last August announcing the first wave of Mettyness: To improve sightlines in the Promenade Level, the Mets are lowering the LED ribbon boards hanging on its fa�ade by approximately one foot. The first phase of work on the boards on the Left Field Landing has been completed. In addition, the metal edging on the glass railings at the bottom of the stairs and aisles throughout the ballpark are in the process of being removed. "In our ongoing effort to serve our fans, we proactively sought their feedback - through direct dialogue and e-mail, and via online and in-person research," said Dave Howard, Executive Vice President, Business Operations, New York Mets. "These new enhancements are a direct result of that communication and are designed to make the Citi Field experience even more exceptional." The Mets also have begun installing photographic imagery of famous Mets and historic moments in team history on the Field and Promenade Levels to complement the banners on the exterior of the ballpark. The team championship banners are also on display on the Left Field wall. It did take a lot of fan feedback to get the Mets to move on items that the club ignored in opening Citi Field; crediting it makes the organization seem like responsive (or "proactive") heroes. They were so hard into "not a bad seat in the house" evangelizing that they ran into their own sightline problems: they couldn't see that everybody couldn't see everything from everywhere. In all their anticipatory interviews, including the three SNY "isn't this great?" preview shows, there was no explicit acknowledgment that more was coming, no "and if you like this, you're gonna love the Hall of Fame and Museum, scheduled for Opening Day 2010." While I'd expect them to hype what they have and not emphasize a lick of the negative (like the lousy views from left field to which they had to attempt to fix four months later), it wouldn't have been out of line to tell us Even More Great Things Are On The Way. But they didn't. It just wasn't important to them at least as far as what they were projecting. I sincerely believe the Mets were so worried about putting across the idea that Citi Field was a break from the Met past (Shea, essentially) that it didn't occur to them that the Met past was important to their customers. But y'know what? They did get a clue, however they got it, and Citi Field, judging by the photos to which JCL directed us, appears to be better off for it, which means we'll enjoy it more, and everybody wins (or wins as much as they can with Beltran and Reyes on the shelf). So thank you to the Mets fans -- and Mets customers -- who got the Mets' attention. And thanks to the Mets for listening, processing and acting, which strikes me as kind of a strange sentiment given that we're the customers and they should be thanking us. Alas, this is not a normal business relationship we have with them. The only alternative we have to not going to their games is, well, not going to their games -- and we don't want to do that. There is no other team across the street where we could take our commerce (technically there is, but you know what I mean). We want to love everything about them and it pains us when we honestly don't.

Much "Get Well" love for Lenny. His getting the record-breaking 151st career pinch-hit in a Mets uniform at Shea seemed, on the night it happened, as big as any milestone one could have hoped to have witnessed. Loved the outpouring of affection from his teammates.

I'll be mighty sick of the subject by late August but also mighty familiar, so I'll take the final Mets @ Braves series as well.

New ep of Mets Yearbook, featuring 1980, Tuesday night at 6:30 (record before heading over to Two Boots), rebroadcast Wednesday afternoon at 4:00. Long live Steve Henderson.

That is SO more the fuck like it.

I'll take the May 17 and August 2 series at the Dread vs. the Graves.

I thought the thread title referred to a piece of protective equipment that catchers found painfully ineffective.

Highlight of his second tenure: hit the 6,000th home run in Mets history in the day half of September 13's D-N doubleheader against the Phillies. Also, to make a point of how much the Mets sucked, Jeff Pearlman told our September Two Boots gathering that we deserved credit for rooting for a team that brought back "Angel Hernandez". Back in his first go-round, constituted, upon his promotion, one-quarter of the first all-'80s born Mets infield, 9/18/05: Jacobs, Hernandez, Reyes, Wright. Doesn't sound impressive now, struck me as a changing of the guard then.