G-Fafif

"Julie, did I ever tell you the story about my uncle M. Donald Kotter? Cheapest, nastiest man anybody ever met..."

Hurrah, Jody Gerut is sitting!

Fresh from the Rotunda dedication, Davidoff reports the owner of the Mets plans a Mets HOF. ]Fred Wilpon said the the team is planning on establishing a Mets Hall of Fame, most likely in the centerfield concourse with the high-end food selections and the old Home Run Apple. Also, you'll be thrilled to know, Davidoff learned the Mets got the Red Sox' OK to blast Neil Diamond at the grateful throngs. ]The Mets went so far as to get a blessing from Red Sox ownership before renewing their usage of "Sweet Caroline" as the "eighth-inning song" at Citi Field; the Neil Diamond song has long been a Fenway Park staple. But the fans' massive boos told the whole story. The Mets need to find their own song. They considered Coldplay's "Viva la Vida," which they used during their pre-game introductions Monday night, but decided against it. Remember when the only thing we asked the Red Sox' permission for was when we could borrow their champagne?

Vic Ziegel, with his usual deft historical bemusement, linking the PG to CF here. Includes mention of that bitter Roger Craig character, presumably still seething over his omission Monday night. ]When it was a different Citi, the Mets lost their openers The Mets lost the first game in franchise history, 1962, on the road and then at home, the Polo Grounds. And lost their first game at Shea Stadium, 1964. Lost the first game at Citi Field, you probably remember, Monday. This doesn't bode well for Opening Day for the Mets' next stadium, the fourth one, April, oh, say, can you see, 2050, if the arctic ice caps haven't reduced the Flushing trains into rubber duckies. Listening to all-squawk radio the other day, I heard somebody identify the only significant moments in Shea's 45-year history as 1) Bill Buckner's error and 2) the Beatles' concert. You could argue the catches by Ron Swoboda and Tommie Agee, in the '69 Series, belong in the same category. But you couldn't dance to them. When the Mets were born, they stumbled into the available space at 157th St. and 8th Ave., the Polo Grounds, abandoned by the New York Giants at the end of the 1957 season. (The Dodgers left Brooklyn at the same time but not many remember that.) The Mets were awful that first year, and that's being kind. They lost 120 games. Lost 231 games those first two years. The next two years at Shea they added 221 more groans. If the Mets, these Mets, win 100 games from this point on, they'll become a .500 team sometime in 2016. Their earliest seasons were so dreadful they inspired this cartoon: ballplayer holding a telegram, a gun in his other hand pointing at his forehead. His wife explains to a friend, "He just got traded to the Mets." The last three years at Shea weren't nearly as ugly, but weren't much fun either. The Mets came up short when they had a chance to reach the World Series in 2006, and cost themselves a spot in the postseason the last day of the season the last two years. Ancient history. They fixed the shabby bullpen that cost them so dearly last year. Sports Illustrated is picking the Mets to win the Series. Mentioned them on the cover, which is never a good sign. Citi Field Day 1, against San Diego, the Mets resembled nothing more than their grandpappies. Baseball stadiums have been opening for better than a hundred years but history was made when Mike Pelfrey threw his third pitch of that first game. Jody Gerut of the Padres slammed the ball into the right-field stands, the only time a leadoff hitter christened a new park with a home run. An inning later, Pelfrey, delivering his best imitation of the 1962 Mets, threw a pitch to Walter Silva. The ball had just left his hand when Pelfrey caught his cleat on the mound and lost his balance. He was next seen, smiling, picking himself off the ground. Silva and the next three Padres were smiling, too, after they put together four hits and scored three runs. The last run of the game, the winning run, came in the sixth inning, when Ryan Church reached for a fly ball and had it bounce off his glove. The runner, Luis Rodriguez, reached third. And came home - 1962, all over again - when Pedro Feliciano balked. Those 1962 Metsies lost their first nine games. The run that beat them in No.9 came on a bunt that Don Zimmer had trouble locating. He wasn't fielding well but he was perfect at the plate, 0-for-24. Roger Craig, who lost 41 games in his first two seasons, was the losing pitcher. "I felt strong, had good control," Craig said later. "If we were hot and they were cold, instead of the other way around, I probably would have shut them out." The first time I met Dick Young, the Daily News' great baseball writer, was after Craig broke a personal 19-game losing streak. Young called his office and suggested a backpage headline for that night's game. For some reason, his suggestion - "Craig Wins Another" - was rejected. A day after Craig's loss, April 23, 1962, Jay Hook racked up the Mets' first win, beating the Pirates, 9-1. "Ninety-nine more and we got the pennant," said manager Casey Stengel. "One and nine isn't a lot better than 0-and-10," Richie Ashburn said, "but it sure feels a lot better." The Mets closed the Polo Grounds in 1963, 72 years after it opened for business. And if somebody had asked what the significant moments were in that grand old park - the pigeons under the roof, notwithstanding - the easy answers would have been Bobby Thomson's home run in the 1951 playoffs and Willie Mays' catch in the 1954 World Series. Good luck topping that, Citi Field.

I like the Rotunda, but I'd like a lot more[/url:3q9n3phx].

Why is this not a thread about Arnold Horshack?

This reminds me of a column, I don't remember whose, written after Scott Kazmir made his MLB debut in Seattle. The key phrase was something about the Mets blew it, he'd be making his debut at Shea in front of 50,000 if they hadn't. And I was thinking, late in the 2004 season, there's no way Scott Kazmir or anyone short of the Pope draws 50,000 to Shea right now. Not to be statistically literal here, but the idea that if the Mets didn't trade Scott Kazmir his September recall to a lousy team would have generated mass waves of interest (as opposed to an uptick among the curious) was ludicrous. Kazmir became a cause after he was traded. Before, he was a prospect with a moderately high profile among the cognoscenti and no great recognition to the public at large, the kind of thing you'd need to attract the mythic 50,000 to a ballpark solely based on name. A little tangent there, but Matthews paints this "it should be like THIS!" picture knowing damn well it will never be the exact ideal he's decided it will be because, well, it won't. Which is fine except somebody pays him to write that crap.

The "faithful" did stay to the bitter end at Shea, but there were plenty who were faithless on a given night, skedaddling by the seventh and staying away in droves at the threat of rain. Not saying they didn't have good reasons and responsibilities, but let's not kid ourselves. Spent many an eighth and ninth inning there the last few years in relative solitude.

At the risk of doing an SJR and quoting from other boards, somebody on baseball-fever suggested chalking, with the proper colors, the seating diagram from Shea, with the bases, in the parking lot, kind of a Christo-type project that could be seen from the air and be the talk of the town. Everybody could see exactly where everything was and where they once sat, stood and rejoiced. I'd throw in a marker for each of the Ten Greatest Moments as voted on by you, the fans, last year.

One less Nat for Chico Harlan to cover. Oh wait, they bring up somebody to replace him. Bad news for the cheeky beat reporter who hates writing about baseball.

="apmorris":wnnmp6rx]...Marisa Tomei's hairstyle and what she was wearing.[/quote:wnnmp6rx] I hear she likes short bald men. SteveJRogers Apr 14 2009 04:00 PM ="G-Fafif":1ujkcl62]="Frayed Knot":1ujkcl62]The column, in other words, sounds like he came up with the idea first and then tried to shoe-horn into it whatever material he could mine.[/quote:1ujkcl62] Walter Silva not in the media guide is indeed a bit of a reach. [/quote:1ujkcl62] You also won't find potential future HOFer Gary Sheffield in the Mets Media Guide either. Comes with the territory of having roster info from late Feb/early March when you need to produce a massive tome. Should be noted though that Sheffield did make the 2009 Mets Yearbook though, but that's another story. Gwreck Apr 14 2009 04:17 PM The thing that got me about the flyover was the juxtaposition with the Mets talking about how Citi Field was a "green" ballpark. Yes, I know the Mets and the Military are separate entities. But it got me wondering about how much fuel was wasted by doing the flyover. Edgy DC Apr 14 2009 05:22 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Apr 14 2009 06:23 PM I agree that flyovers are seemingly overkill, wasteful, obnoxious, and jingoistic, but what we're talking about here is In ascending order of fulfilling The McCarver Rule ("At every game you will see something, or at least a combination of things, you have never seen before"), here are the top unique or unlikely events from the park's opening... . In fact, the wry observation aside, flyovers at sporting events happen all the time. Nymr83 Apr 14 2009 06:22 PM ]2. Six innings earlier, a stray cat desperately trying to exit the field leaped onto the low fence directly in front of New York Governor David Paterson i was happy to see that the cats made it over from the old building. i didnt even realize that was patterson, but him or someone with him JUMPED scared when that cat came near them.

="Frayed Knot":1yskogoi]The column, in other words, sounds like he came up with the idea first and then tried to shoe-horn into it whatever material he could mine.[/quote:1yskogoi] Walter Silva not in the media guide is indeed a bit of a reach. But I'm with KO on flyovers, CF and in general. I said the same thing at the Home Opener in '07 regarding our proximity to a major airport. I get an immense American flag for the national anthem. I get the national anthem out of tradition. I've never gotten military flyovers for sporting events, unless we're securing the permiter of the parking lot. In which case, we may have bigger problems than obscure Walter Silva shutting us down for four innings. apmorris Apr 14 2009 03:48 PM Re: Counting Down the Bizarre from Last Night Remember: He is a nerd. A real nerd. And a Yankee Fan. Could be worse. Dan Patrick would've wrote about Marisa Tomei's hairstyle and what she was wearing. G-Fafif Apr 14 2009 03:56 PM Re: Counting Down the Bizarre from Last Night ="apmorris":wnnmp6rx]...Marisa Tomei's hairstyle and what she was wearing.[/quote:wnnmp6rx] I hear she likes short bald men. SteveJRogers Apr 14 2009 04:00 PM ="G-Fafif":1ujkcl62]="Frayed Knot":1ujkcl62]The column, in other words, sounds like he came up with the idea first and then tried to shoe-horn into it whatever material he could mine.[/quote:1ujkcl62] Walter Silva not in the media guide is indeed a bit of a reach. [/quote:1ujkcl62] You also won't find potential future HOFer Gary Sheffield in the Mets Media Guide either. Comes with the territory of having roster info from late Feb/early March when you need to produce a massive tome. Should be noted though that Sheffield did make the 2009 Mets Yearbook though, but that's another story. Gwreck Apr 14 2009 04:17 PM The thing that got me about the flyover was the juxtaposition with the Mets talking about how Citi Field was a "green" ballpark. Yes, I know the Mets and the Military are separate entities. But it got me wondering about how much fuel was wasted by doing the flyover. Edgy DC Apr 14 2009 05:22 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Apr 14 2009 06:23 PM I agree that flyovers are seemingly overkill, wasteful, obnoxious, and jingoistic, but what we're talking about here is In ascending order of fulfilling The McCarver Rule ("At every game you will see something, or at least a combination of things, you have never seen before"), here are the top unique or unlikely events from the park's opening... . In fact, the wry observation aside, flyovers at sporting events happen all the time. Nymr83 Apr 14 2009 06:22 PM ]2. Six innings earlier, a stray cat desperately trying to exit the field leaped onto the low fence directly in front of New York Governor David Paterson i was happy to see that the cats made it over from the old building. i didnt even realize that was patterson, but him or someone with him JUMPED scared when that cat came near them.

Dave Howard on 'FAN all but scolding those who don't adore everything at Citi Field right now.

Takes all kinds. My gods were specks.

Moving over to MF on FAN (their Lojack found me again), the Swisher pitching and enjoying himself thing is becoming a Thing. The arbiter of all that is anything says it's all right with him that Swish saved the ball or laughed or whatever 'cause it's April. If it were September, he boomed, it wouldn't have happened. Got me thinking that, well, no, the rosters expand in September, thus you don't use position players to pitch. But then I remembered the Mets' first experience with pitching players was a September blowout at the hands of the Pirates, this one. It was a joint production of New York's Gonna Love Bill Pecota and his manager/hypeman Jeff Torborg. We had worked through Hillman, Whitehurst, Gibson, Dewey and Innis over seven innings. Trailing 18-2, it was Pecota to the hill. Van Slyke led off the eighth with a homer, then Pecota set 'em down in order. I ask now...why? How is it those mentally and spiritually besotted 1992 Mets didn't have an extra relief pitcher to soak up one lousy inning at the end of one lousy year? How do you wind up using Bill Pecota? Barry Jones and Lee Guetterman each pitched an inning the night before. Anthony Young, by then the closer of record (Franco was injured), hadn't bitched in two nights. And you had to use Bill Pecota? If this were Jose Oquendo, let's let him play all nine positions, OK, fine. But I remember Torborg being taciturn and disgusted afterwards, that this isn't funny, this is the worst thing that can happen. Yet with extra (granted terrible) arms all around, you couldn't get three outs of out of somebody? Worst team money could buy. And worst manager anyone could hire.

="Edgy DC":27q6tao4]Anybody else doubt his account of his first trip to Shea?[/quote:27q6tao4] He's told it before. Not to say that makes it accurate, but it is consistent. Interesting tidbit from Spring Training regarding the Mets, the Giants and the lights they shared: http://keitholbermann.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/03/well_you_asked.html Edgy DC Apr 14 2009 02:19 PM What kind of kid goes to a park and comes back with observations of rusted bolts? I went to the park and all I saw was the gods on the green. G-Fafif Apr 14 2009 02:28 PM Takes all kinds. My gods were specks. Frayed Knot Apr 14 2009 02:57 PM I went to both Shea & YSI about that same time and there's no way that Shea looked older. And if you're strictly looking up at beams (like the one that fell down a few years back) YSII didn't look any younger either, including right after it was (re)built. Plus his "weird" list of things aren't really all that weird. Reminds me of a comedian who was doing a routine a bunch of years back where he claimed that the then-current TV show 'That's Incredible' was running out of material to the point where they should change the name to 'That's Kind of Interesting". The column, in other words, sounds like he came up with the idea first and then tried to shoe-horn into it whatever material he could mine. Changing topics on deadline is such a bitch. metirish Apr 14 2009 03:11 PM ="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr":2z0r4xnn]"And that's why YOU, burgundy-clad hyena masquerading as an usher, who directed me to what turned out to be the THIRD closest bathroom to my ticketed seating area, and shrugged when I came back to hear your explanation... are the WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD."[/quote:2z0r4xnn] Perfect OlerudOwned Apr 14 2009 03:18 PM Olbermann fudged up the detail on Bloomy's ball. It wasn't fouled off by Tatis, Bell literally threw the damn thing through the bottom of the screen. G-Fafif Apr 14 2009 03:36 PM ="Frayed Knot":1yskogoi]The column, in other words, sounds like he came up with the idea first and then tried to shoe-horn into it whatever material he could mine.[/quote:1yskogoi] Walter Silva not in the media guide is indeed a bit of a reach. But I'm with KO on flyovers, CF and in general. I said the same thing at the Home Opener in '07 regarding our proximity to a major airport. I get an immense American flag for the national anthem. I get the national anthem out of tradition. I've never gotten military flyovers for sporting events, unless we're securing the permiter of the parking lot. In which case, we may have bigger problems than obscure Walter Silva shutting us down for four innings. apmorris Apr 14 2009 03:48 PM Re: Counting Down the Bizarre from Last Night Remember: He is a nerd. A real nerd. And a Yankee Fan. Could be worse. Dan Patrick would've wrote about Marisa Tomei's hairstyle and what she was wearing. G-Fafif Apr 14 2009 03:56 PM Re: Counting Down the Bizarre from Last Night ="apmorris":wnnmp6rx]...Marisa Tomei's hairstyle and what she was wearing.[/quote:wnnmp6rx] I hear she likes short bald men. SteveJRogers Apr 14 2009 04:00 PM ="G-Fafif":1ujkcl62]="Frayed Knot":1ujkcl62]The column, in other words, sounds like he came up with the idea first and then tried to shoe-horn into it whatever material he could mine.[/quote:1ujkcl62] Walter Silva not in the media guide is indeed a bit of a reach. [/quote:1ujkcl62] You also won't find potential future HOFer Gary Sheffield in the Mets Media Guide either. Comes with the territory of having roster info from late Feb/early March when you need to produce a massive tome. Should be noted though that Sheffield did make the 2009 Mets Yearbook though, but that's another story. Gwreck Apr 14 2009 04:17 PM The thing that got me about the flyover was the juxtaposition with the Mets talking about how Citi Field was a "green" ballpark. Yes, I know the Mets and the Military are separate entities. But it got me wondering about how much fuel was wasted by doing the flyover. Edgy DC Apr 14 2009 05:22 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Apr 14 2009 06:23 PM I agree that flyovers are seemingly overkill, wasteful, obnoxious, and jingoistic, but what we're talking about here is In ascending order of fulfilling The McCarver Rule ("At every game you will see something, or at least a combination of things, you have never seen before"), here are the top unique or unlikely events from the park's opening... . In fact, the wry observation aside, flyovers at sporting events happen all the time. Nymr83 Apr 14 2009 06:22 PM ]2. Six innings earlier, a stray cat desperately trying to exit the field leaped onto the low fence directly in front of New York Governor David Paterson i was happy to see that the cats made it over from the old building. i didnt even realize that was patterson, but him or someone with him JUMPED scared when that cat came near them.

A friend, whose opinion I respect in terms of going to a game without an agenda, was there last night and passed this review along: ]GOOD NEWS: Promenade Deck, Section 521, 5 rows from the top. Left field. Between third and home. Felt like the Mezzanine, not the Upper Deck. Bigger seats, wider aisles. Nicer vendors. The new scoreboard is so clear it looks fake. Fans happy. When the cat ran out there I thought of your Casey. Food good. I was warmer than I figured I would be. BAD NEWS: Clearly, some of this is �learning curve�. Promenade section signage near invisible. Small dark signs at rear of section. If people stand, they�re covered. Completely. I wandered in Section 522 balancing hot dogs and beer badly going up and down stairs. Asked vendor where I was. He had no idea. CROWDED. All that room we thought we have we don�t really have. I walked into the Rotunda, up the escalator and WHAM! Wall of people. Half touring, half buying food. Didn�t move. Claustrophobia beckons. Push and shove in the general direction of third base, find the escalator mobbed, find stairs and start climbing. And climbing. Glad my heart got a clean bill of health. Start to miss Sheascalators. After the game, hit a massive wall of people trying to walk down the stairs. Not moving at all. Really miss Shearamps.

For no reason other than a desire to hear baseball chatter in the background, I put on Michael Kay, and he is beseeching Posada and Jeter to have a talk with Nick Swisher because Swish appears to be enjoying himself too much. The Yankee way goes on.

The host of Countdown has a very nice NON-POLITICAL baseball blog (which is to say posting this has nothing to do with politics, so I'd appreciate being spared the non-baseball rants in this particular context; advance thanks for your cooperation). Therein, KO on CF here[/url:2z7irmhe].

seawolf17 wrote: Okay, fine, you're rehired. Send me a box of books that I can use as promotional pieces. That's a trick, right?

seawolf17 wrote: ="G-Fafif"]I'll never make it on the sales side. You were all set to just send him a replacement book, weren't you? As your literary agent, I'm firing you as a client. I'm not as altruistic as I've led you to believe.

="Swan Swan H":3f1zi9ng]I guess I last heard him doing the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet for a few minutes this past February.[/quote:3f1zi9ng] Now I'm really bumming. Seriously. I love the Puppy Bowl (and kitten halftime show). It seemed somehow dignified with Harry K on board. Farmer Ted Apr 13 2009 06:05 PM Ryan Howard supposedly showing his respect to Harry by taking a puff with Jayson Werth. http://www.totalprosports.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ryan-howard-smoking-during-the-pre-game.jpg themetfairy Apr 13 2009 11:01 PM Wow. We heard about this during the moment of silence before the game at Citi Field. As most of you know, I live in the no man's land between New York and Philly, and we get local channels from both markets. I've been listening to Harry for the past 13+ years, and have always enjoyed listening to him. Just this past Sunday, D-Dad and I turned on the game and commented about how much we enjoy hearing that voice each summer. RIP Harry. SteveJRogers Apr 14 2009 06:40 AM ="Farmer Ted":ru7cwiip]Ryan Howard supposedly showing his respect to Harry by taking a puff with Jayson Werth. http://www.totalprosports.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ryan-howard-smoking-during-the-pre-game.jpg[/quote:ru7cwiip] All the Phillies took a drag of that as a "respect" thing.

Doc's gonna be on hand. Hobie's still alive. And I'm betting on the pinstripes for the occasion, though I agree the snow whites have taken pre-eminence.

I'll never make it on the sales side.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: The other day, I got out of a cab and left my copy of FAFIF in there. What's worse is that I didn't realize I had misplaced my book until a few hours had passed. Oh, the humanity.