G-Fafif

Is that deal for Barry Larkin still on the table?

Child psychologists, however, are having a field day after these last four games.

My tentative nickname of "Bring 'Em Home Ramon" for Mr. Martinez will have to wait another day or ten for real world application.

There should probably be a ballpark adjustment for any Met's power numbers in 2009. Sheff's hit a couple that would have gone out of Shea. That said, "bunk" is a good word and one not used nearly enough these days, dadgum it.

Goodness. What is there to say? Link to story mentioning problem birth here[/url:2hti6s9w].

Jerry handled that interview like the weekly conference call I used to be obligated to participate in: when it came time to speak, it was obvious he had total contempt for everybody else on the line. And hail.

State of the booths as heard from here: Keith Hernandez is a wild card/loose cannon. Some nights a gem, some nights a goof. Not the baseball genius I thought he'd be. An original, to be sure. I'd miss him if he left. Ron is a real jock, which is not a bad thing. He really likes being part of a team in there. Sounds happy when he doesn't have to be "Ron Darling, Yalie" and can be Ronnie, one of the guys. A good fit with each of his partners. More comfortable in contemporary climes than Keith. Someday Wayne Hagin will be doing the Royals or the Twins or the Astros and bring up the way David Wright charges a ball and his listeners will scratch their heads at why he's always referring to some random New York Met. Conversely, those among us who aren't obsessed with such matters will say, in five years, "oh yeah, Wayne Hagin, I forgot about him." He's an insightful observer of baseball matters, a pretty good announcer of baseball games. I don't know that he'll ever be a Mets broadcaster except in name. It's not that we have high standards; we have specific standards. I like him a good deal, but I can't quite get used to him. Howie Rose is a conversationalist, which is a lost craft in broadcasting today. He came into the business when civility and boundaries were implicit and sports was something people loved, not an all-pervasive industry. He's a bit of an anachronism in that sense, and a welcome one, even as curmudgeonliness slips into his delivery more and more. I don't think of him as a great play-by-play guy probably because I think of him as a great talk show host. He's wonderful between the pitches, sounds like he's putting on when he becomes an announcer (though not as badly as Michael Kay does). He and Hagin will never, ever mesh. That's neither's fault. Howie should keep his seat as long as he wants. Mets fans deserve a Mets voice on the radio. Gary Cohen is a conductor. He is a maestro. He grows as a broadcaster every year. He was the best thing since Vin Scully on radio and he's lifted his game to a high level on TV. He conducts. He moves the game along. He moves Keith and Ron along without stopping traffic. He still calls the action brilliantly. He questions what needs to be questioned, he emphasizes what needs to be emphasized and he sees what's coming. I'm in awe that he's the Mets' voice of record (and am ever thankful that SNY's original offer to Dave O'Brien to serve in that role was rejected). Whereas Howie seems like a Mets fan who grew up to broadcast Mets games, Gary seems like a broadcaster who was a Mets fan when he was a kid. Gary Cohen and Bob Murphy were a great team. Gary Cohen and Howie Rose were a great team. Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling are a great team. I don't think the common denominator is a coincidence.

"Jerry stands behind his players when their fundamentals are not uniformly inept. We stand behind success."

Saw much of "The Zen of Bobby V" on MSG recently and thought Marines fans put us to shame. I think even more so now. Marines is life, indeed. Great link, Irish.

Keith Olbermann story about Vin Scully that makes even Michael Kay seem likable. Gary referenced it one of the last two nights. ]The advent of the Mets' annual visit to Dodger Stadium always reminds me of one of the greatest baseball stories nobody tells. Let's correct that. A decade ago, when I was still working full-time in sports and in Los Angeles, it was the Yankees coming to town for an exhibition game, and, with them, my friend Michael Kay, at that time still a member of their radio team. Michael is usually pretty direct, but on the field before the game, he was hemming and hawing something awful until I finally blurted "out with it!" He explained he was just too nervous to introduce himself to the legendary Vin Scully, even though both were not only major league broadcasters, but also alums of Fordham University in New York. Mike was still repeating his apology when I explained I knew exactly how he felt. When I had first worked in Los Angeles as a local sportscaster in the '80s, it had taken me two years to screw up the courage to introduce myself to this nonpareil of my business. As I reassured Michael, Vin was easily the nicest famous person in the sport, maybe in the country. And he always had a story that in some way related to you. Little did I know. As Michael began to hyperventilate, I made the introductions. Vin asked about Fordham, about Mike's youth, about his newspaper career, about the Yankees. And then came the story: "Michael, did you know; Keith, I don't even think I told you this -- I nearly became the Voice of the Yankees?" Absolute silence for two or three beats, and then, from Kay and Olbermann, a joint "whaaaat?" "When the Yankees let Mel Allen go in 1964, I got a phone call from the man who they had brought in to run their broadcasting operation, Craig Smith," Vin began. "He had been in charge of the World Series broadcasts forever, so I'd known him about ten years by then. And he asked me if I'd like to come home to New York and become the lead announcer. He offered a very handsome salary, and a long contract. "Well, I was amazed, as you can imagine. I'd found a wonderful home here in Los Angeles, but remember, this was only seven years after the Dodgers left Brooklyn. I was still a New Yorker through and through. Plus, here was a chance to work again with Red Barber. And recall, too, that this was just before the Yankee dynasty collapsed. As much as Mr. O'Malley had done here and in Brooklyn, the Yankees were still the marquee name in sports. If it had been 1958 or 1959, when I still missed New York so, I would've said yes before he hung up the phone." "So, I thought long and hard about that one. But I had a young family, and I think we had all just truly adjusted to living here - takes just about seven years, I think - and in the end I turned it down." Michael and I each sputtered various observations about how changed the baseball world might have been. Vin Scully doing the Yankee games? Would the franchise still have ebbed with such a benign but effective salesman at the microphone? Would the Dodgers' roots, still growing in 1964-1965, have gone in as deeply as they did? Would CBS's failed experiment in corporate ownership have succeeded, and George Steinbrenner never have bought the Yankees? What would have happened to the man to whom the Yankees gave the job Scully turned down? Would Joe Garagiola have ever wound up on The Game Of The Week, or The Today Show? Vin laughed. "Oh, to tell the truth, I don't think it'd made that much difference. It's not very important." He excused himself to go back to preparing for his broadcast, and, as usual, made it seem like I had done him a great favor by introducing Michael to him. After Vin had left, Michael and I sat there on the Dodger bench for a few moments in silence. Then he said "If he had been the Yankee announcer when I was growing up, I never would have dreamed of applying for a job as his gopher, let alone as his partner." I told him that once again I knew how he felt - it was very tough knowing that my sportscasts often preceded Vin's play-by-play on cable. It seemed somehow a sacrilege to pretend to deserve to be on the same channel. Still, think of it: 45 years of "Hi again everybody, it's time for Yankee Baseball!" Or maybe Steinbrenner would've quarreled with Vin and eased him out. Or, likeliest of all the alternate-galaxy theories: working in New York, where in the '60s all the network and advertising executives were still located, Vin Scully would've gone on to the Game Of The Week, or something even higher up on the tv food chain, a lot earlier than he actually did. Who knows - maybe he'd still be doing it - and doing it on NBC.

Arthroscopic. Every hip is different, but let's hope it's A-Roddish in velocity.

He's out for a while: ] New York Mets slugger Carlos Delgado needs surgery on his right hip, and there's no immediate word on when he might return to the lineup. The Mets announced Monday that Delgado has a bone spur and a torn labrum in his hip.

Thanks for posting the survey, LWFS. Very cathartic if nothing else.

Anybody seen Chris Woodward lately? Jorge Velandia? Luis Rivera? Rey Ordonez, even with birth certificate adjusted, is under 40. And he couldn't have possibly lost anything off his offensive game. Can't lose what ya don't got.

What do non-Mets Mets who don't have their own cards sign? Or is there an Upper Deck Ed Coleman set I'm not aware of?

And it was surprising if somehow fitting[/url:gcew152g].

Marvy work. And intriguing thought on Molina as Met. Glad you brought it up here.

Getting booed is part of the game.[/url:slzjo9mo]

="Centerfield":28w6uoca]For those that saw it, is there any question he would have been on third?[/quote:28w6uoca] It is unlikely he would have been on third, but when you're Jose Reyes and you have the speed to unnerve defenders, hell yeah, stress them out. soupcan May 13 2009 07:22 PM I'll go with 'not such a great aptitude for the sport and over confident'. John Cougar Lunchbucket May 13 2009 07:28 PM It's as if he wants to prove he can be everything his worst detractors say he is. Fman99 May 13 2009 07:33 PM It was Timotastic. Kong76 May 13 2009 07:36 PM I don't think he's lazy. I don't think he had a triple in that late off the wall spot but ya just gotta bust it out of the box every single time for my taste. Sometimes I think he's a time bomb who's gonna push the envelope once too often with a manager, teammates, and the fans. I like him a lot, and hope that he and Wright are together for a long time. But really, there's a lot at stake this year after the last two and you can't be dickin' around at all without being finally called on it eventually. Edgy DC May 13 2009 08:04 PM Lazy isn't the issue. Nobody fails to bust it out of the box because it's too much of a hassle. They fail to bust it either because (a) they lose focus, or ( it feels cool to not do what you're supposed to and still get away with it. Don't let him get away with it. Swan Swan H May 13 2009 08:34 PM Right you are, Edgy. It seems like fifteen or twenty years ago a guy would get booed for that sort of thing, and it might actually matter to the player, who felt like he owed something to the attendance. Not any more. Booing won't help. Calls to talk radio are masturbatory wastes of time. We are powerless. The separation between player and fan has grown to the point where support is expected with an ugly sense of entitlement and criticism brings only defiance. There is only one way to prevent him from getting away with it, and one person who can do it. Next time he pulls this, as he is clapping his hands ninety feet shy of the place he should be standing, the next thing he sees should be Alex Cora, an unfortunate actor in this play, trotting out sheepishly to run for him. Make him sit on the bench for the rest of the game, not hiding in the palatial clubhouse, so the camera can show his face nine million times, and ESPN and MLB Network show every shot in an endless loop. It's been done forever, probably since the ball was filled with feathers, and it's time to bring it back. Doing it today would have been ludicrous, with the empty bench. A 'next time' chat, and the balls to do it when (and I doubt it's if - it will be when) it happens again are in order for Jerry Manuel. Hey Irish, if he was a hockey player I'd suggest he should be put through a bag skate the likes of which would kill a lesser man. What's the equivalent here? metirish May 13 2009 08:43 PM Reyes ran last night and hurt the team, so as mentioned above it's focus with Reyes. Last season when Manuel took over this crap was supposed to be done with , Reyes had tuned Willie out they say and Jerry was going to get him focused , benched him his first game. But all that didn't work as he has proven since with several lazy, bad call them whatever plays. Swanie I don't know if you can punish a guy like that in baseball....it seems to be a point of pride in hockey that stuff. Do they have the kangaroo court these days? Swan Swan H May 13 2009 08:50 PM Good point. Maybe Delgado could put on the wig. Edgy DC May 13 2009 08:55 PM Delgado sure had a good vantage point. He would have done well to burn Reyes' clothes before he got back to his locker. smg58 May 14 2009 06:49 AM He's done it before, and it shouldn't be tolerated. If I were managing, Cora would play short tonight. Nymr83 May 14 2009 07:40 AM ] It seems like fifteen or twenty years ago a guy would get booed for that sort of thing, and it might actually matter to the player, who felt like he owed something to the attendance. Not any more. Booing won't help. Calls to talk radio are masturbatory wastes of time. We are powerless. The separation between player and fan has grown to the point where support is expected with an ugly sense of entitlement and criticism brings only defiance. i dont care what the anti-booing folks say, booing is a well-deserved and appropriate responce to a player not giving 100% effort. John Cougar Lunchbucket May 14 2009 07:42 AM The one and only occasion in which booing is appropriate. MFS62 May 14 2009 07:43 AM Is it just me (a loaded question) or has Reyes' performance on the field declined since he got married? He seemed to have been improving, but the last full year or so he's doing the same stuff he did as a rookie. We keep talking about his mental mistakes and attitude. We married folks know what marriage can do to your head. Just a thought. Later John Cougar Lunchbucket May 14 2009 07:46 AM Just you I am sure. I think edgy nailed it, he's enamored with his ability to "make things happen" to the point where doing so while also being intelligent about it is too confining for him. seawolf17 May 14 2009 07:51 AM That's no way to go through life, son. holychicken May 14 2009 08:41 AM ="Nymr83":2m9wtvae]i dont care what the anti-booing folks say, booing is a well-deserved and appropriate responce to a player not giving 100% effort.[/quote:2m9wtvae] I am against the booing of players that don't perform well. I believe it is more than justified for players who don't give it their all. Ceetar May 14 2009 09:47 AM ="metirish":1c6uovaw]Reyes ran last night and hurt the team, so as mentioned above it's focus with Reyes. Last season when Manuel took over this crap was supposed to be done with , Reyes had tuned Willie out they say and Jerry was going to get him focused , benched him his first game. But all that didn't work as he has proven since with several lazy, bad call them whatever plays. Swanie I don't know if you can punish a guy like that in baseball....it seems to be a point of pride in hockey that stuff. Do they have the kangaroo court these days?[/quote:1c6uovaw] He's not lazy. As much as he should 'bust it' on every AB, 99.9% of batters don't. You could argue that he learned the other day that that's not a triple off the bat. It wouldn't have been. it didn't cost us anything. As for his play advancing..well, yeah, it was bad. But it was also in the hole, maybe Reyes thought it was getting through, and if it wasn't Castillo running, Escobar may throw to first and Reyes is safe. It's pushing the envelope, which he needs to do, but maybe dumb right there. Reyes has never been a great baseball thinker, but he's learned and honed his instincts to adapt. But this is part of the problem with the Reyes-Manuel dynamic. Manuel has been holding him back in terms of 'picking spots' in stealing bases, and what not. But you can't get Reyes to think how Manuel is thinking, you have to set up the rules and what to look for, but that's not what Manuel's doing. He's not respecting Reyes ability as a basestealer, trying to fit him into how Manuel thinks he should be, rather than how Reyes thinks he should be. You could see it last year with the whole 'not dancing' fiasco early on, until Beltran righted him. The team had him scared to even do Professore Reyes, because he thought he had to 'focus on baseball' and couldn't do both. gerrard00 May 14 2009 09:52 AM ="holychicken":ffazqu5w]="Nymr83":ffazqu5w]i dont care what the anti-booing folks say, booing is a well-deserved and appropriate responce to a player not giving 100% effort.[/quote:ffazqu5w] I am against the booing of players that don't perform well. I believe it is more than justified for players who don't give it their all.[/quote:ffazqu5w] Maybe that's part of the problem. The crowds boo so often for things like "he tried his best but could not make the tough catch" that the boos become meaningless when someone really is not giving their all and deserves the business. G-Fafif May 14 2009 10:18 AM Getting booed is part of the game.[/url:slzjo9mo] Fman99 May 14 2009 10:32 AM ="holychicken":2g7tig2j]="Nymr83":2g7tig2j]i dont care what the anti-booing folks say, booing is a well-deserved and appropriate responce to a player not giving 100% effort.[/quote:2g7tig2j] I am against the booing of players that don't perform well. I believe it is more than justified for players who don't give it their all.[/quote:2g7tig2j] At the game, I only boo players on the other team. The Mets don't need to hear my boos or those from the home crowd to know when they're sucking wind. At home, or in the pool, I boo Mets heartily.

Much "fucking" to go around. Enjoy your six-hour flight, boys.

Edgy DC wrote: Steal home, Jose. Honor the legacy of Jackie Robinson already yet.

Nymr83 wrote: ="G-Fafif"]="Edgy DC"]="G-Fafif"]Fuck this fucking field and its fucking ninety-foot fence. It wasn't the fence that went into a premature trot. Repeat: Fuck this fucking fence. how bout "fuck a fuckign athlete who gets paid for his speed and doesnt run hard in extra innigns?" Both and all.

Edgy DC wrote: ="G-Fafif"]Fuck this fucking field and its fucking ninety-foot fence. It wasn't the fence that went into a premature trot. Repeat: Fuck this fucking fence.

And fucking run, Jose. RUN!

Fuck this fucking field and its fucking ninety-foot fence.