G-Fafif

I rooted for Padres emergency closer Jesse Orosco to retire transient Mets second baseman Roberto Alomar with the game literally on the line in 2003 because Orosco deserved one more save at Shea and Alomar had earned my disgust for more than a year. It being 2003, I somehow knew, even though it was early in the season, it wasn't going to be the one game that cost us a playoff spot.

="metirish":37z63oby]That's on basic with your package?[/quote:37z63oby] Right there between ABC Family and E! Edgy DC Jul 15 2009 02:37 PM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Jul 15 2009 02:39 PM ="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr"]="Edgy DC"]Yeah, but by then it was a cheap easy cliched shot. I have no doubt that he has a long history with the team, but Citi was made (and Shea torn down) for people like him. Call a spade a spade, sirrah-- you're an anti-hostite. He's gotten a bit haughty at times of late-- the hang-'em-high righteousness with which he went after Jim Cramer was a bit unbecoming-- but I've been a fan of his work since the standup days, and wouldn't deign to piss on his-- nor most other folk's (save those mouth-breathing "I root for New York teams" fence-straddlers)-- Met-fan bonafides. I think I made clear that I don't "piss on... his bonafides. But I certainly oppose his nomination as America's Best Met Lovin' Big Shot. metirish Jul 15 2009 02:37 PM I think I started tuning Stewart out when the notion that he was a bona fide news man started gaining traction , or more precisely I would read that it was from Stewart that "young" people were getting their news. Not for me , I stick to the BBC for that stuff and NBC Evening News with Brian Williams. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 15 2009 02:40 PM ="Edgy DC":ugckwhun]I think I made clear that I don't "piss on... his bonafides. But I certainly oppose his nomination as America's Best Met Lovin' Big Shot.[/quote:ugckwhun] Who's your horse? Fman99 Jul 15 2009 02:48 PM ="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr":86wcqmmz]="Edgy DC":86wcqmmz]I think I made clear that I don't "piss on... his bonafides. But I certainly oppose his nomination as America's Best Met Lovin' Big Shot.[/quote:86wcqmmz] Who's your horse?[/quote:86wcqmmz] Yeah, I smell a CPF poll once some nominees are settled. So far I'd toss out Stewart, Seinfeld and Julia Styles. Who else ya got? Tim Robbins? Matthew Broderick? Edgy DC Jul 15 2009 02:48 PM Glenn Close, baby. Fman99 Jul 15 2009 02:50 PM ="Edgy DC":3v5kxhrn]Glenn Close, baby.[/quote:3v5kxhrn] She may be the most, uh, handsome Mets fan out there. Edgy DC Jul 15 2009 02:52 PM This isn't a wank contest. But sure, you give your body to Stewart and I'lll give mine to Glenn. I'll be in Scotland before ye'. dgwphotography Jul 15 2009 02:54 PM ="Edgy DC":1yldf61i]Glenn Close, baby.[/quote:1yldf61i] Glenn Close, the Yankee bandwagon joiner? Fman99 Jul 15 2009 02:57 PM ="Edgy DC":2o053drn]This isn't a wank contest. But sure, you give your body to Stewart and I'lll give mine to Glenn. I'll be in Scotland before ye'.[/quote:2o053drn] Edgy, let's quit the bullshitting. We're on the internet. This whole place is a wank contest. You go to Scotland. I change my vote to Julia, I'll get myself a Scott paper tissue. G-Fafif Jul 15 2009 02:58 PM Fman is literally in midseason form. Benjamin Grimm Jul 15 2009 02:59 PM For Fman, it's all about the wank. He's perpetually 14 years old. Anyway, it seems that Ray Romano may not be not one of us after all. In a Q&A piece in the Daily News a week or so ago, he said he grew up as a Yankee fan in a Yankee household, even though he lived in Queens. Perhaps he made the switch to the Mets at some point, but you wouldn't know it from that article. Benjamin Grimm Jul 15 2009 02:59 PM Hey, wait! I thought I was in the Met-Loving Big Shot thread!

The ticket prices below Promenade reflects a Richness Outreach Program, for sure. But the fine print on the back indicates nothing regarding either smugness or humility. There is no official No. 501, but John Stewart with an "h" came as close as anyone. People just didn't turn it into quite enough gold.

="Edgy DC":prk3eg5e]Yeah, but by then it was a cheap easy cliched shot. I have no doubt that he has a long history with the team, but Citi was made (and Shea torn down) for people like him.[/quote:prk3eg5e] It was all in the timing. People like him? Late night basic cable hosts? metirish Jul 15 2009 02:21 PM That's on basic with your package? Edgy DC Jul 15 2009 02:25 PM The rich and the smug. He didn't even make the 500: LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 15 2009 02:28 PM ="Edgy DC"]Yeah, but by then it was a cheap easy cliched shot. I have no doubt that he has a long history with the team, but Citi was made (and Shea torn down) for people like him. Call a spade a spade, sirrah-- you're an anti-hostite. He's gotten a bit haughty at times of late-- the hang-'em-high righteousness with which he went after Jim Cramer was a bit unbecoming-- but I've been a fan of his work since the standup days, and wouldn't deign to piss on his-- nor most other folk's (save those mouth-breathing "I root for New York teams" fence-straddlers)-- Met-fan bonafides. G-Fafif Jul 15 2009 02:30 PM The ticket prices below Promenade reflects a Richness Outreach Program, for sure. But the fine print on the back indicates nothing regarding either smugness or humility. There is no official No. 501, but John Stewart with an "h" came as close as anyone. People just didn't turn it into quite enough gold. G-Fafif Jul 15 2009 02:31 PM ="metirish":37z63oby]That's on basic with your package?[/quote:37z63oby] Right there between ABC Family and E! Edgy DC Jul 15 2009 02:37 PM Edited 2 time(s), most recently on Jul 15 2009 02:39 PM ="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr"]="Edgy DC"]Yeah, but by then it was a cheap easy cliched shot. I have no doubt that he has a long history with the team, but Citi was made (and Shea torn down) for people like him. Call a spade a spade, sirrah-- you're an anti-hostite. He's gotten a bit haughty at times of late-- the hang-'em-high righteousness with which he went after Jim Cramer was a bit unbecoming-- but I've been a fan of his work since the standup days, and wouldn't deign to piss on his-- nor most other folk's (save those mouth-breathing "I root for New York teams" fence-straddlers)-- Met-fan bonafides. I think I made clear that I don't "piss on... his bonafides. But I certainly oppose his nomination as America's Best Met Lovin' Big Shot. metirish Jul 15 2009 02:37 PM I think I started tuning Stewart out when the notion that he was a bona fide news man started gaining traction , or more precisely I would read that it was from Stewart that "young" people were getting their news. Not for me , I stick to the BBC for that stuff and NBC Evening News with Brian Williams. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 15 2009 02:40 PM ="Edgy DC":ugckwhun]I think I made clear that I don't "piss on... his bonafides. But I certainly oppose his nomination as America's Best Met Lovin' Big Shot.[/quote:ugckwhun] Who's your horse? Fman99 Jul 15 2009 02:48 PM ="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr":86wcqmmz]="Edgy DC":86wcqmmz]I think I made clear that I don't "piss on... his bonafides. But I certainly oppose his nomination as America's Best Met Lovin' Big Shot.[/quote:86wcqmmz] Who's your horse?[/quote:86wcqmmz] Yeah, I smell a CPF poll once some nominees are settled. So far I'd toss out Stewart, Seinfeld and Julia Styles. Who else ya got? Tim Robbins? Matthew Broderick? Edgy DC Jul 15 2009 02:48 PM Glenn Close, baby. Fman99 Jul 15 2009 02:50 PM ="Edgy DC":3v5kxhrn]Glenn Close, baby.[/quote:3v5kxhrn] She may be the most, uh, handsome Mets fan out there. Edgy DC Jul 15 2009 02:52 PM This isn't a wank contest. But sure, you give your body to Stewart and I'lll give mine to Glenn. I'll be in Scotland before ye'. dgwphotography Jul 15 2009 02:54 PM ="Edgy DC":1yldf61i]Glenn Close, baby.[/quote:1yldf61i] Glenn Close, the Yankee bandwagon joiner? Fman99 Jul 15 2009 02:57 PM ="Edgy DC":2o053drn]This isn't a wank contest. But sure, you give your body to Stewart and I'lll give mine to Glenn. I'll be in Scotland before ye'.[/quote:2o053drn] Edgy, let's quit the bullshitting. We're on the internet. This whole place is a wank contest. You go to Scotland. I change my vote to Julia, I'll get myself a Scott paper tissue. G-Fafif Jul 15 2009 02:58 PM Fman is literally in midseason form. Benjamin Grimm Jul 15 2009 02:59 PM For Fman, it's all about the wank. He's perpetually 14 years old. Anyway, it seems that Ray Romano may not be not one of us after all. In a Q&A piece in the Daily News a week or so ago, he said he grew up as a Yankee fan in a Yankee household, even though he lived in Queens. Perhaps he made the switch to the Mets at some point, but you wouldn't know it from that article. Benjamin Grimm Jul 15 2009 02:59 PM Hey, wait! I thought I was in the Met-Loving Big Shot thread!

Any doubts I may have had about Jon Stewart's Met authenticity (and I didn't really have them) were allayed when Kevin Burkhardt interviewed him at Citi Field and he mentioned what a great home the Brooklyn Dodgers have here, or words to that effect.

In the last few years, we've seen Willie Mays, Yogi Berra and Stan Musial serve, to some degree, as the focal points of AS pregame ceremonies where particularly appropriate. Will the Mets put one and one together and bring out Tom Terrific, who will be 68 that summer, in a big way? Or will it become another platform for the Mets and MLB to celebrate the legacy of Jackie Robinson? The international strides the game has taken? The approaching 40th anniversary of the birth of Derek Jeter? You get one of these approximately every fifty years, Mets. Don't blow it.

More scoring in the All-Star Game probably means less presidential soft rain. Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison would have gotten big play last night considering the paucity of offense. Willie has some strange attachment to batting practice caps. He always wears the Giants BP, except when he showed up at Shea for the farewell last September, and he wore the Mets BP. He may be the one man in America who thinks that design looks sharp.

Nymr83 wrote: ]Loved the White Sox jacket. Not the Cardinals, not an All-Star logo. I'm sure he could have borrowed a Cardinals jacket from Hillary if he'd wanted one, she still has all 30 teams from her campaign. Which has what to do with what, exactly?

="Edgy DC"]He recounts above getting Berra to hit into a DP in the 1964 Mayor's Trophy Game. Is this a different Yogi DP? I do believe that's the one in question. My mistake. From the book: ]Ten years later, Berra saw Wakefield at a Mets Old Timers Day. "Hey, Dick," Yogi said. Dic Wakefield had played with the Yankees in the '40s and Berra always called Wakefield "Dick." "I'd quit correcting him by that time," said Wakefield. "I said, "Yeah, Yogi?" "You got me out in the Mayor's Trophy Game," Berra said.

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Is it me, or is FOX overdosing on the Obama thing? It's not like the president doesn't throw out the first pitch at games from time-to-time. It's been a part of almost every interview. For someone who loves the presidency as much as he loves baseball, I thought you might enjoy the saturation coverage. Loved the White Sox jacket. Not the Cardinals, not an All-Star logo. Stay true to your school. Costas did one-on-one with Prez that aired on MLB Network after the game. Brilliant stuff. Learned that when in HS, Obama's HS team played basketball vs. the Reds when they came to Hawaii for Superteams competition. (Johnny Bench: nice guy, but they played to win.) I think I would have considered that the high point of my career and coasted from there. But that's what separates the politicians/overachievers from the rest of us.

]Jeter made an easy play look difficult with that jump-throw thing he doesn't need to do. The Onion could replace Bob Klapisch and accuracy would benefit.

Casual, but might upgrade to avid if the National League can come tantalizingly close to winning before inevitably blowing it.

I voted no on principle, but I can see the practical application within narrow parameters, destroying the village in order to save it and such. But I don't like the slippery slope this solution presents.

The Daily News' Nick Hirshon made their moment happen by pursuing their story through the winter and spring and forcing the Mets to take it seriously. Wakefield was, according to Bill Ryczek's essential The Amazin' Mets 1962-69 (every historically curious CPFer should secure a copy...though some of us are more curious than others), a victim of an early '60s roster rule that required "all players who had spent a year in the minors be carried on the mjaor league roster or be exposed to the draft, where they could be claimed for $8,000." In 1965, the Mets started the season with the youngest roster in the majors, including Tug McGraw (20), Jim Bethke (18), Kevin Collins (18), Danny Napoleon (23) and Ron Swoboda (20). Among those shoved off by the forced youth movement was Wakefield, who set the record for most appearances by any pitcher who spent only one season in the bigs. Bill would become part of a Buffalo team more dismal than the current one and never pitch his way back. He did, however, induce Yogi Berra to hit into a double play in an intrasquad game in Spring Training '65. ETA: It was Mayor's Trophy Game, as alluded to in the interview above.

Maybe, maybe not because Berman, Morgan and Phillips during the HR Derby were talking about the most polite players they've known and Joe Morgan mentioned Doc Gooden and Steve Phillips said he saw that immediately when they were teammates and America was like "WTF?" But there they were, at Little Falls[/url:3ucitdds].

Great picture, no surprise, considering the lensman. Park and setting still need to be surrounded by a city block for full effect. Otherwise it still smacks of Arlington Comes to Flushing rather than homage to St. Ebbets.

When Citi Field gets the ASG, they'll have to have an inside-the-park home run derby.

="Fman99":fn2iahiw]="Centerfield":fn2iahiw]I will be really pissed off if he's good for them.[/quote:fn2iahiw] HIs escape from the orange and blue virtually assures him some measure of success. Having said that, once he puts that stupid red hat on I will loathe him like he's a Hawaiian outfielder.[/quote:fn2iahiw] Benny Agbayani just filed an anti-defamation suit. Nymr83 Jul 13 2009 04:32 PM LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jul 14 2009 09:53 AM Apparently, it's all over but the hamstring strain. http://blogs.courierpostonline.com/phillies/2009/07/14/pedro-martinez-to-sign-physical-today/ Fman99 Jul 15 2009 07:59 AM ="G-Fafif":9sn5sc6y]="Fman99":9sn5sc6y]="Centerfield":9sn5sc6y]I will be really pissed off if he's good for them.[/quote:9sn5sc6y] HIs escape from the orange and blue virtually assures him some measure of success. Having said that, once he puts that stupid red hat on I will loathe him like he's a Hawaiian outfielder.[/quote:9sn5sc6y] Benny Agbayani just filed an anti-defamation suit.[/quote:9sn5sc6y] No, I meant a ****y Hawaiian in a red hat, who runs out of the basepath and doesn't get called for it, and not any of the Hawaiians of the Mets' glory days. I heart Benny. Centerfield Jul 15 2009 08:03 AM ="G-Fafif":3kbm59a8]="Fman99":3kbm59a8]="Centerfield":3kbm59a8]I will be really pissed off if he's good for them.[/quote:3kbm59a8] HIs escape from the orange and blue virtually assures him some measure of success. Having said that, once he puts that stupid red hat on I will loathe him like he's a Hawaiian outfielder.[/quote:3kbm59a8] Benny Agbayani just filed an anti-defamation suit.[/quote:3kbm59a8] Anti-defamation suit? Suing someone for saying good things about you? Nymr83 Jul 15 2009 08:28 AM ="Centerfield":6a3936hp]="G-Fafif":6a3936hp]="Fman99":6a3936hp]="Centerfield":6a3936hp]I will be really pissed off if he's good for them.[/quote:6a3936hp] HIs escape from the orange and blue virtually assures him some measure of success. Having said that, once he puts that stupid red hat on I will loathe him like he's a Hawaiian outfielder.[/quote:6a3936hp] Benny Agbayani just filed an anti-defamation suit.[/quote:6a3936hp] Anti-defamation suit? Suing someone for saying good things about you?[/quote:6a3936hp] his reputation as a "bad boy" has been irrepairably tarnished!

If Ollie were someone else (which, granted, he's not) and had turned in the kind of performance he had last week after missing two months, he'd be widely praised for gutting it out without his best stuff and showing he knows how to win.

According to Tim Kurkjian in his book on how much he likes covering baseball (it's called I'm Not Chico Harlan), he says Angel Berroa's Baseball Tonight nickname is Angel My Man because in a piece on how the 2003 Royals were going unknown, Harold Reynolds couldn't remember Berroa's name and referred to him, after an uncomfortable pause, as "My Man".

]...the entire Washington Nationals organization have the highest respect for Manny Acta and the role he has played in the short history of the Nationals. Could be interpreted as the Washington Nationals organization's goal was to ensure the Nationals had no more than a short history and they respect Acta's role in their intentional sabotage of the franchise. In other words, we hank you, Manny, for helping to kill it before it could learn to walk. Washington: first in war, first in peace, not particularly swift with the correspondence.

The once-future Mets manager tells ESPN Deportes his Acta had grown too statle in Washington; via AP here. ]Report: Acta says he's out as Nationals manager Manny Acta says he has been fired as manager of the Washington Nationals. Acta told ESPNdeportes.com on Sunday that he'd been let go. The Nationals went into the All-Star break with the worst record in the majors at 26-61. "I thank the Nationals for giving me this opportunity and I'm sorry that things didn't work out as expected. It's normal for the manager to pay the price when the team is not doing well," Acta said. An e-mail to Acta from The Associated Press was not immediately returned early Monday. Calls, e-mails and text messages from the AP to Nationals officials also were not returned. Acta would be the third manager in the major leagues to be let go this season. Colorado's Clint Hurdle and Arizona's Bob Melvin were previously fired. It was unclear who would replace Acta in Washington. Bench coach Jim Riggleman has managed the Padres, Cubs and Mariners. Acta was 158-252 in 2 1/2 seasons as Nationals manager, and the team's winning percentage dropped progressively from Year 1 until now. From the outset of spring training in February, he called the current team the most talented he's had, but significant problems in the bullpen, an untested starting rotation and the worst defense in the majors were part of a series of miscues in 2009. The Nationals started 0-7 and never came close to approaching .500. When the team was hitting well, the pitching was a mess, and the team kept shuffling its bullpen with little change. Once the pitching became serviceable, the hitters suddenly became less productive. This was Acta's first major league managerial job, and he always preached patience and emphasized the importance of keeping an even keel � so much so that some wondered whether he needed to be a bit less willing to publicly abide his players' mistakes. From the outset, working for a franchise he knew was undertaking a rebuilding process, Acta repeatedly said he would rather be an optimist than a realist, refusing to acknowledge that his team wasn't ready to be competitive. In 2007, Acta's first season as Frank Robinson's replacement, Washington finished 73-89, fourth in the NL East but a two-win improvement over 2006 and better than was expected. Acta even received votes for NL Manager of the Year. But the team took a step backward in 2008, going 59-102 for a .366 winning percentage, the worst record in the major leagues. And there was even more regression this season � not only are the Nationals still the worst team in baseball, but their .299 winning percentage is far lower than any other team. A 5-0 loss at Houston on Sunday was Washington's seventh in 10 games. The Nationals rank last in the NL with a 5.21 ERA and they have committed the most errors in the majors (82). When Acta was hired in November 2006, he was 37, and no manager in the majors was younger. He was coming off two seasons as the New York Mets' third-base coach, and before that, Acta held the same job under Robinson from 2002-04, when the Nationals were still the Montreal Expos. Acta had managed eight seasons in the minors and five in the Dominican Winter League, and he led the Dominican Republic to the semifinals at the 2006 World Baseball Classic. When the Nationals introduced Acta as their new manager, president Stan Kasten gushed, "I knew within 30 minutes that this could be the next manager, that he had the right stuff," and then-general manager Jim Bowden brought up Jim Leyland's name, saying Acta was "going to be very special." Now, less than three full seasons later, Acta says he is gone. As it is, his staff had undergone a complete overhaul already, with every coach other than pitching coach Randy St. Claire fired at the end of last season � and St. Claire was dismissed at the beginning of June. Acta's firing is only the latest example of the constant upheaval and instability surrounding the Nationals since Kasten and local developer Ted Lerner took over the club � a sale that was supposed to finally bring a semblance of normalcy to the franchise. Instead, there is now uncertainty on the bench to go along with an acting general manager, Mike Rizzo, who took over day-to-day GM duties shortly after Bowden resigned during spring training. Rizzo still does not have the full title.

Memo to Frenchy: Stop hitting and start walking.

Perhaps to reverse the curse, you should hang it on a tree outdoors before Christmas, when it's not cold enough for snow. Then Johan could stand there and let the weather wash over him like a soft rain. I hear that does wonders for a pitcher.

My just-passing-through experience in 1992 (old Busch) and 2006 (new Busch) was remarkably similar to JCL's and 'wreck's. Big disappointment as I was expecting the sort of atmosphere MGIM describes. I'm sure there's something to it, but it doesn't translate immediately. They sure do wear red and they sure do show up. Now that MFYS II is shuttered, it's probably the closest we'll ever get to mindless, lockstep, peer-pressure, conformist Japanese-style rooting in this country. (MFYS III is overbearing but the inhabitants don't seem as fascistly organized as they used to.) I remember much was made in 2004 when Larry Walker came over, got a standing O, struck out and got another standing O. It didn't seem all that remarkable on TV. Mets fans give their big acquisitions plenty of support for the first 24 hours, too. Wayne Hagin offered an interesting take here regarding Cardinal fan reaction to the Red Sox winning on their field for the first time in 86 years and how Mets fans would never be as accommodating. ]I am asked by the multitudes about broadcasting in New York City as opposed to other cities where I worked and resided. The answer is, broadcasting in New York brings you face to face, mind to mind, and heart to heart with the fan. In this case, the New York Mets fans. People designate the St. Louis Cardinals fans as "baseball's greatest fans" and Keith Hernandez and I have spoken often about the Cardinals fortune of having a collegiate type of following. Mistakes are made on the field but the fans will support you as if you were a member of the family. They revel in their midwest hospitality and that transcends to the baseball diamond at Busch Stadium. It's their legacy and there was no better example of that then when the Cardinals played the Red Sox in the 2004 World Series. Game four was played in old Busch Stadium and Derek Lowe shut down Albert Pujols and company to win the game, the World Series, and beat the demons of not winning it all over the past 86 years. What did the St. Louis crowd do? They not only clapped their hands in tribute but ushers and stadium officials actually let Red Sox fans, who didn't have seats and had stood outside the stadium, come in and join in the history of the moment. That was St. Louis and as you know, that wouldn't have happened at Shea nor will it happen at Citi Field. It doesn't make one city "better" than the other. They are different cities altogether and that's what makes my experience special to me. I love the heart and soul of the Mets fan. I work with a man, Howie Rose, who exemplifies the Mets fan. Howie is a true pro and it's fabulous to sit next to him broadcasting a game. (I should point out I fucking hate the fucking Cardinals, so my opinions may be biased, but I tried to put all that on hold when I visited because I generally like to enjoy myself in other parks and thus think the best of their folks.)