G-Fafif

JUNE 2, 2005 Two episodes that would be highlight film staples had they made a highlight film of 2005 and had the 2005 Mets rated a highlight film in the latter-day sense of having to earn one. From the AP account: 1) In the first inning, Martinez was pitching to Luis Gonzalez when the Shea Stadium infield sprinkler system went off, shooting water everywhere. Some pitchers might have been annoyed. Martinez was amused. "I just got wet," he said, laughing it off. "Water is a blessing." On a chilly June night, Martinez reacted like a kid playing in a pool in the middle of summer. "I made it fun," he said. "It was fun." 2) New York RF Mike Cameron fell down chasing Jose Cruz Jr.'s fly ball in the sixth inning but made the catch while flat on the ground. The Cameron catch was Amazin' as any play a Met not named Endy Chavez made in this decade, including the D-Wright barehanded grab in San Diego two months later. The sprinkler romp...well, that was just vintage Pedro while there was vintage Pedro. And, oh yes, the Mets beat Arizona, 6-1.

STRICTLY FOR THE HELL OF IT (no need to poll these)... APRIL 15, 2005 The Marlins will be sending ace Josh Beckett to the hill, so let's just throw our sacrificial lamb/temporary starter Aaron Heilman out there to absorb his pounding. Instead, the Mets handle Beckett just fine and Heilman, an afterthought heading into the season, comes within one lousy infield hit of immortality (curse you, early and often, Luis Castillo). Aaron's line: 9 IP, 0 R, 1 H. For his trouble, he's eventually a reliever. AUGUST 21, 2001 & MAY 11, 2002 Will Mike Hampton ever learn? His first two returns to Shea are an education in the short memory of fans (who boo the 2000 NLCS MVP relentlessly) and a math lesson, which is to say, subtract the Rockies' totals and the Mets' totals and you'll see we beat our onetime ace twice. The Mets jumped on Hampton in August '01, with four in the first and a Piazza solo job in the second (they never liked each other, it was said) as the Mets got their footing for the run they would make at the division. The encore featured a three-run homer by SUPER Joe McEwing, erasing a Rockies' 3-1 lead. Al Leiter was the beneficiary both times; one assumes he didn't care for not being considered the ace here in 2000. The May 11, 2002 game's other noteworthy returns: Todd Zeile, Rick White and, to little reaction, Benny Agbayani, each purged from the ultimately 2001 club (as if their removal really helped matters).

Mike Vail smells comeback.

The Monsanto ad is priceless ... Click here: http://www.kcmets.com/CPF/Atlprog1069.pdf Grass is on the way out, no doubt about it. Always thought the Braves were trying too hard with that giant leap for the southeast business -- especially since the Giants finished directly behind them in the West. The West...it didn't cross my mind for years that Atlanta being in the same geographical setup as three California teams was odd. As the late '90s and early '00s would prove, it was preferable.

Yeah, I think this is the money group.

How about the time his knuckler got away from Molina but took that crazy bounce off the brickwork and let Bengie tag out Rollins and Victorino? The best part was our catcher falling on ol' Shane and knocking all the oxygen out of the not-so-Flyin' Hawaiian. Sure, we were losing 12-3, but it was one of the few nice moments of 2010.

Should we save bandwidth and rename this thread Memories of R.A. Dickey now?

Which is to say I asked and they said OK, which no other blog seems to have done. Anyway, a talk between myself and Gary Morgenstern, SNY's vice president of programming is here, in which I rave about Mets Yearbook; he answers a few questions about it; I ask about Mets Classics and he agrees a Random Mets Game would be a nice thing to watch.

David Waldstein, story in Times today, detailing Mets' spotty (to be kind) history with Japanese players. Most amusing (because it happened eight years ago now) is this nugget on Steve Phillips, international man of mystery: Based on a statistics sheet from Japan, Steve Phillips, the Mets� general manager at the time, thought Komiyama was an experienced reliever. But Phillips misread the category Games Finished to mean saves, when it actually referred to complete games. Komiyama went 0-3 with a 5.61 earned run average (and no saves) for the Mets and went home after one year.

Just pulled a random t-shirt out of the drawer and it was WRIGHT 5. Perhaps he just felt a twitch. Hmm...hope it doesn't send him to the preseason DL.

Another somewhat rare Seaver cover ... The nerve of some pitchers, a cool mil over five years??? Click here: http://www.kcmets.com/CPF/CWide1070.pdf Dick Young saw this, went ballistic and made it his mission to run Tom out of town.

"Lost"

"Kiss of the Schneider Woman"

"Playing Fossum: A Journeyman Pitcher's Guide to Appearing Dead"

"I Never Played the Game" by Billy Cotton Foreword by Terrel Hansen New Paperback Afterword by Ruddy Lugo

"Pagan With the Pawind" by Mushmouth

"The Audacity of Stokes"

"I Spell Mine Differently -- And Not With a BB, Wise Guy" by Sean Green

"The Connoisseur's Guide to Unopened Champagne (Collector's Edition)" by Willie Randolph

"Manchild in Beantown" by Billy Wagner

"Deliverance: How the Early Release Program Worked for Me" by Darren O'Day

"So You Think You Can, Lance? The Inside Story of the Shortest Run in Broadway History"

"I'm Still Here...Damn It" by Gary Sheffield

"Are You There, Jerry? It's Me, Nick Evans"