G-Fafif

Link added. You mind if we run the picture itself?

On Cablevision here on snowy L.I. a preview of the MLB Network has appeared on Channel 147. Tuesday evening saw the 2004 and 2005 World Series films and an hour of "great moments," plus lots and lots of running of the same two or three promo spots (Endy's catch made me simultaneously sad and proud; every recent Phillie made me grimace; K-Rod punctuating a save as the final image made me very happy). No hosts or advertising yet. Don't know how indicative it is of what's to come, but a welcome sight on a wintry night.

Seawolf's June 12, 1982 handiwork inspires a post from my partner here.

This is far more interest in who played for the 1995 ReplaceMets than I had in 1995 when I looked away about as hard as I could (though I was back like a Pavlovian pup once the strike ended). Roster of sorts, based on the above articles and chat, of those who wore Mets uniforms and played in those games or at least were in camp as something approximating Mets: Benny Agbayani Tom Allison Chris Brown Alex Coghen Benny Distefano Mike Eberle Cliff Gonzalez Kevin Hickey Stanley Jefferson Dave Jensen Kirk Killingsworth Brent Knackert Marcus Lawton Eric Ludwig Doug Sisk Lou Thornton Chuck Wacha Bubba Wagnon Chris Walpole Rich Wieligman

Continuing to fill out the non-existent roster (courtesy of News): ]ReplaceMets fell to 0-8 yesterday and remain baseball's only winless team in spring training with 9-2 loss to Reds at Plant City. In an effort to try something new and give beleaguered subs a day off, Dallas Green started seven minor leaguers. Minor league P Eric Ludwig and truck driver Alex Coghen were tagged for eight runs in sixth inning as Reds batted 12 men. . Oft-injured ex-big league 3B Chris Brown was acquired from Tigers before game and went 2-for-4. . . . The total of Met minor leaguers who have committed to play in exhibition games stands at 27 of 61 (44%). When ReplaceMet 3B Chris Walpole headed home to Bronx three days ago, Mets weren't sure they believed his excuse about his boss demanding he return to work as special education teacher at Truman High. "He had no credibility with us from the day he arrived," said one member of Met brass. Walpole, remember, found his way onto Met roster after he fabricated story about stint with Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks.

Numerical tidbit from News: ]Numbers Game: Nine ReplaceMets claimed uniform numbers of striking Mets. They are: P Brent Knackert (28 from Bobby Jones); P Alex Coghen (31 from John Franco); P Doug Sisk (39 from Josias Manzanillo); P Kevin Hickey (33 from Kelly Stinnett); C Kevin Carroll (6 from Joe Orsulak); 1B Rich Wieligman (12 from Jeff Kent); IF Wagnon (9 from Todd Hundley); 3B Chris Walpole (25 from Bobby Bonilla), and Thornton (20 from Ryan Thompson).

="Benjamin Grimm"]This is interesting: ]Individual game tickets for all Mets regular-season home games will go on sale at 9 A.M. Tuesday and can be purchased at Shea Stadium. Prices have been reduced to $5 for box seats and $4 and $2 for reserved seats. Tickets can be returned for a two-thirds rebate if the club starts the season with replacement players. So they reduced the ticket price knowing demand would be low, with a possibility of an additional rebate. I didn't go to any games in 1995. In fact, I went to zero games between 1995 and 1998. But I guess some fans got a pretty good deal: field level boxes for $5. And they didn't have to see replacement players. The Mets did two-for-ones early in the season once they came back. Buy a ticket to a game in May, get another for later in the season. Plus concessions (hot dogs, soda and such) were half-price. Everything felt very reasonable after the most unreasonable period in modern times.

="A Boy Named Seo":2bkvwmj9]I'd forgotten or didn't know Sisk came back for that. Weren't Agbayani and Reed replacements? Benny was for the Mets, but was Reed also?[/quote:2bkvwmj9] Reed went to camp with the Reds. Thought he'd be throwing for scouts, wound up in games. G-Fafif Dec 16 2008 03:02 PM ="Benjamin Grimm"]This is interesting: ]Individual game tickets for all Mets regular-season home games will go on sale at 9 A.M. Tuesday and can be purchased at Shea Stadium. Prices have been reduced to $5 for box seats and $4 and $2 for reserved seats. Tickets can be returned for a two-thirds rebate if the club starts the season with replacement players. So they reduced the ticket price knowing demand would be low, with a possibility of an additional rebate. I didn't go to any games in 1995. In fact, I went to zero games between 1995 and 1998. But I guess some fans got a pretty good deal: field level boxes for $5. And they didn't have to see replacement players. The Mets did two-for-ones early in the season once they came back. Buy a ticket to a game in May, get another for later in the season. Plus concessions (hot dogs, soda and such) were half-price. Everything felt very reasonable after the most unreasonable period in modern times. G-Fafif Dec 16 2008 03:06 PM Numerical tidbit from News: ]Numbers Game: Nine ReplaceMets claimed uniform numbers of striking Mets. They are: P Brent Knackert (28 from Bobby Jones); P Alex Coghen (31 from John Franco); P Doug Sisk (39 from Josias Manzanillo); P Kevin Hickey (33 from Kelly Stinnett); C Kevin Carroll (6 from Joe Orsulak); 1B Rich Wieligman (12 from Jeff Kent); IF Wagnon (9 from Todd Hundley); 3B Chris Walpole (25 from Bobby Bonilla), and Thornton (20 from Ryan Thompson). G-Fafif Dec 16 2008 03:09 PM Continuing to fill out the non-existent roster (courtesy of News): ]ReplaceMets fell to 0-8 yesterday and remain baseball's only winless team in spring training with 9-2 loss to Reds at Plant City. In an effort to try something new and give beleaguered subs a day off, Dallas Green started seven minor leaguers. Minor league P Eric Ludwig and truck driver Alex Coghen were tagged for eight runs in sixth inning as Reds batted 12 men. . Oft-injured ex-big league 3B Chris Brown was acquired from Tigers before game and went 2-for-4. . . . The total of Met minor leaguers who have committed to play in exhibition games stands at 27 of 61 (44%). When ReplaceMet 3B Chris Walpole headed home to Bronx three days ago, Mets weren't sure they believed his excuse about his boss demanding he return to work as special education teacher at Truman High. "He had no credibility with us from the day he arrived," said one member of Met brass. Walpole, remember, found his way onto Met roster after he fabricated story about stint with Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks. HahnSolo Dec 16 2008 03:20 PM The same Chris Brown who last I heard was working for a contractor driving a truck in Iraq. Not the job to "sleep wrong on your eye". G-Fafif Dec 16 2008 03:25 PM This is far more interest in who played for the 1995 ReplaceMets than I had in 1995 when I looked away about as hard as I could (though I was back like a Pavlovian pup once the strike ended). Roster of sorts, based on the above articles and chat, of those who wore Mets uniforms and played in those games or at least were in camp as something approximating Mets: Benny Agbayani Tom Allison Chris Brown Alex Coghen Benny Distefano Mike Eberle Cliff Gonzalez Kevin Hickey Stanley Jefferson Dave Jensen Kirk Killingsworth Brent Knackert Marcus Lawton Eric Ludwig Doug Sisk Lou Thornton Chuck Wacha Bubba Wagnon Chris Walpole Rich Wieligman Fman99 Dec 16 2008 04:02 PM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket":3p5qotfb]I could not have been any more tuned out to what was happening to the Mets while they went through this period. I really thought I had broken up with baseball for good.[/quote:3p5qotfb] Yep. Same here, though I dropped out before the strike, when the Mets went in the tank in '92-93. I was in college, they weren't on TV up there and I had other priorities. Picked it up again for real in '96-97 when I moved to Watertown. There really isn't anything else to do up there besides watch baseball.

One more from NYT: ]Joe McIlvaine had never heard of Chris Walpole. Neither had Gerry Hunsicker, the Mets' assistant vice president of baseball operations. More than likely, Manager Dallas Green still cannot match the name to the face. A 26-year-old third baseman, Walpole was never drafted by a major league club and has never played in any team's system. His professional baseball career is limited to 25 games with the independent Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks, who play in the Class A Northern League. Still, he was signed to be a Mets replacement player, sight unseen. In Walpole's case, a contract was tendered at the recommendation of Drew Marino, his friend and a Mets statistician. Marino briefed the Mets on Walpole's abilities, his history and his health. And, in the end, the Mets probably know as much -- and, in some cases, more -- about Walpole than they do about the other 27 players they have signed to replacement player contracts. "It wasn't a really scientific process," said McIlvaine, the Mets' general manager. "We did not have the time." Of the 28 replacement players in the Mets' camp, four were signed by area scouts who gave them individual workouts. Eight came from the club's official tryout camps. Six more came to Shea Stadium and worked out for McIlvaine or another Met executive. Nine were signed sight unseen. And one -- Dave Jensen -- simply showed up on the first day of camp, banking on his past history in the Mets' minor league system. Jensen threw for Greg Pavlick, the Mets' pitching coach. Two days later, he had a deal. "Normally, when you sign somebody to a contract, what you do is all but live with that kid for a while," McIlvaine said. "You know everything about his family, his friends, his background. You do a detective's job. That wasn't possible this time." With barely a month to unearth and sign approximately 30 replacement players, the Mets did what most clubs had to do -- they gambled. Making a player's baseball experience their No. 1 priority, the Mets took players without knowing about their emotional makeup or personal background or, in some cases, physical condition. What the Mets ended up with, then, is one of the more experienced replacement teams -- 10 players in camp have played at the major league level. They also have a substantial number of players who were once in their own system, which means that someone in the organization generally knows a bit of their background. Like Walpole, though, many of the others can be virtual unknowns. And the lack of knowledge is often greater than the simple inability to tell Chris Walpole apart from Chuck Wacha, who was called "Chris" by one coach the first few days of camp. Until informed by a reporter, Mets executives were unaware that one replacement player had been facing child molestation charges when signed and was not acquitted until the day before he was scheduled to report to camp. That's an extreme case, of course, but the potential public relations damage risked by the Mets in that instance is just one example of how much clubs have gambled in the world of replacement baseball. The medical risks alone are enormous. After all, teams are depending on players who are, on average, older and in poorer physical condition than players the teams would normally have in camp, but they are still financially liable for any injuries a replacement player might sustain. "Certainly, when you have older players, the injury factor generally rises, so it's a big risk," McIlvaine said. "If something happens, we'd be responsible to fix it up and deal with any rehabilitation. And, believe me, Major League Baseball is not standing in line, waiting to reimburse us for the cost." INSIDE PITCH The Mets should not have to worry about sympathetic unions picketing outside Thomas J. White Stadium once they start playing spring training games. According to DAVE HOWARD, the Mets' general counsel, a St. Lucie County ordinance prohibits picketing on county property. The Mets' spring training facilities are built on county land. . . . Minor league position players report on Tuesday and should swell the number of players in camp to 90 or more. . .. Rain forced the club to cut short workouts Monday afternoon.

Nice use of No. 24.

Another from the News, albeit Filip Bondy: ]PORT ST. LUCIE New York sports fan, pathetic, addicted creature of the night: here is the verdict you have been longing to hear. The Met scabs are better than the Yankee scabs! Shea Stadium could be nauseous from first-place fever in just a few short weeks, when the equally earnest Astros, Reds or Cards come to town. Admittedly, this is a preliminary diagnosis, based on lineup revelations and a few shabby warmup tosses. But for you big Yankee scab rooters out there, the news from Florida is very bad. The Yankees, it turns out, did not really embrace this replacement thing. They have only three players with major-league experience, compared with 11 for the Mets. Their manager, Buck Showalter, is wrestling with his conscience. The owner has called replacement baseball "an embarrassment," before calling it "not an embarrassment." For their reluctance, the Yankees are to be commended. They also might take a real pounding in the joke standings, until George Steinbrenner can bear no more and breaks with his peers. Here in Port St. Lucie, where waddling workouts began yesterday, it is another story. Met management is upbeat. Joe McIlvaine and Gerry Hunsicker are telling reporters to write nice stories about the replacements, who have such great tales to tell. The Mets are so serious about this stuff they gave Willie Mays' number away yesterday to Kirk Killingsworth, a 34-year-old righty and sales rep for an Austin, Texas, pharmaceutical company. Handed No. 24 right over to a former minor leaguer who hasn't played pro ball for six years. "I didn't even ask for it," Killingsworth said. "They just gave it to me." There is Stanley Jefferson working out on one field, looking eager and semi-healthy. There is Doug Sisk, mounting a comeback, still 15 pounds overweight after dropping 35 pounds since October. Sisk, a sincere man, is a glutton for punishment. He chugs 20 yards behind other players during wind sprints. He apparently did not hear enough boos from Met fans at the end of his career. "I almost feel like I have some unfinished business there," said Sisk, who is trying to start a sports complex business in Olympia, Wash. "I'm not going to give excuses. There were times when I stunk." And now he won't? "I want to play," he said. "Ask me about the repercussions. I don't care. I'm not taking anybody's job. It'll be there for them." The Mets manager is not happy, but he is not incensed, either. Dallas Green isn't walking away from camp like Sparky Anderson, who was wise and secure enough to say, "There ain't no place in baseball for replacement players." Green is not making that much noise yet. "Sparky's Sparky," Green said yesterday. "He's allowed to do what he wants. "I'm doing a job I'm required to do. I don't have any embarrassment. There are parts I hate and don't want to be a part of. But we're trying to preserve baseball in some form or fashion." For now, what is happening here in Florida looks the same as what happened during the football strike. The bad teams are trying harder, because this is their one chance to bully the bullies. The football Giants were a championship team in 1986, and George Young had worked very hard to build that roster. Like Gene Michael, he had some trouble with the idea of recruiting a replacement team. Young's scabs were a disaster, which said good things about Young and terrible things about the situation. "I looked at the Giants of 1987, and when they lost their first three games they couldn't recover," McIlvaine said. "We want to avoid that." Maybe he will. Maybe the replacement Mets will give the real Mets a jump start on the regular season. This is their mission. "We had a meeting for an hour and a half, and I told them, 'Take a look around. You've all got 'Mets' on your uniforms,' " McIlvaine said. "We're in this to gether." THEN THE METS took the field yesterday. The minor leaguers talked with the minor leaguers. The replacements talked with the replacements. McIlvaine said minor leaguers like Bill Pulsipher, the 21-year-old lefty who is snubbing the replacements, were simply confused by agents and union reps. McIlvaine must not have talked with Pulsipher very much, because the pitcher does not sound confused. In Florida, Pulsipher and Anderson are about the only guys who make any sense.

In deference to West Michigan Whitecap coach Benny DiStefano, an article from the Times during the dark days of Spring 1995. ]George Steinbrenner, meet Bubba. And Marcus, the card dealer. And Chris Walpole, the third baseman who impersonated a Thunder Bay Whiskey Jack to get the job. Angry over the Yankees' two losses to clubs stocked with minor league talent, Steinbrenner, the team's owner, released six replacement players on Friday and called for a change from what Gene Michael, his general manager, termed "a true replacement team." Steinbrenner might not have been as miffed if his club had opened against the Mets. Looking for a true replacement team? Look no farther than Thomas J. White Stadium, where the Mets opened their spring season this afternoon. No Mets minor league players participated in the game against the Yankees. Instead, the roster was built solely from the club's replacement ranks. In center, the Mets played Marcus Lawton, who came to camp from a riverboat casino in Mississippi, where he dealt cards. At shortstop, they called on Tom Allison, a former minor leaguer who was working as an administrative assistant in their scouting department just last week. And at second base, the Mets started Bubba Wagnon, a Kevin Bacon look-alike who abandoned his job at B & B Landscaping in Alabama (that's B & B as in Bubba & Bubba, the other Bubba being his best friend) and arrived in camp last Sunday. It didn't seem to matter much to the fans. In comparison with other clubs, some of which have drawn fewer than 500 spectators, the Mets counted 2,323 through the turnstiles over the course of the afternoon, and more than 1,500 were still seated when the game ended with a 2-1 Yankees victory. The usual turnout for a Mets-Yankees spring training game is between 5,500 and 6,500, but, given the circumstances, the Mets were pleased by the turnout. "I think it will be different in different areas," said Fred Wilpon, the Mets' co-owner. "We might do better here where the community is built more around the team than in places where there are a lot of other distractions." The fans actually cheered when Lou Thornton, the Mets' left fielder, made a diving catch in the first inning, and there were no hecklers when Lawton dropped a fly ball to center in the second, an error that cost the Mets a run. And whenever Wagnon came to the plate, chants of "Bubba, Bubba" could be heard. "All the other Bubbas in Birmingham are sucking down brews watching me on TV," Wagnon said before taking the field for his three hours of fame. As amusing as it was at times, the two teams provided far from quality baseball, even by spring training standards. Todd Hundley, the Mets' regular starting catcher, was on a local golf course when Mike Eberle stepped behind the plate for the replacement Mets. Kevin Hickey, a relief pitcher, dressed in Bobby Bonilla's locker. And with Bret Saberhagen, the Mets' top pitcher, a mere mile away at his Florida home, the club started Doug Sisk, who is one of the top replacement pitchers in camp, but is better known for being a favorite target of fan abuse during his first incarnation as a Met in the 1980's. Sisk remained in the game for two innings, giving up one hit and one unearned run. The hit went to J. T. Kroeger, the Yankees' catcher. Two hours earlier, while facing a batting practice pitcher, Kroeger had failed to hit the ball out of the cage on six straight attempts. Never thrilled to lose, and certainly not this way, Dallas Green, the Mets' manager, acknowledged after the game that he had not enjoyed the experience. But Yankees Manager Buck Showalter -- whose team got its first spring training victory in three games -- was able to joke afterward about the whole situation. "Got to win the big ones," Showalter said. Green said afterward that he planned to bring a few of his minor league players to Sunday's game in Fort Lauderdale. The Yankees started three minor leaguers today, including the pitcher, Kevin Wallace, but still fielded primarily a replacement-player team. That is expected to change soon, though, with Steinbrenner's commitment to adding more minor league players to his club. For today, though, the Yankees' replacement players remained safe. "None today," Showalter said, when asked whether the Yankees had decided to release any more replacements. "We'll have to see what tomorrow brings." INSIDE PITCH Individual game tickets for all Mets regular-season home games will go on sale at 9 A.M. Tuesday and can be purchased at Shea Stadium. Prices have been reduced to $5 for box seats and $4 and $2 for reserved seats. Tickets can be returned for a two-thirds rebate if the club starts the season with replacement players. . . . In the veteran half of the Mets' clubhouse, only three lockers have not been assigned to replacement players, who moved in Saturday morning. Last spring, those lockers belonged to DWIGHT GOODEN, BRET SABERHAGEN and JOHN FRANCO. Asked whether there was a method behind that decision, one clubhouse worker said: "Franco's the godfather. I wouldn't want to mess with him."

Now that you say it, it sounds remotely familiar though I have to confess I might have missed it on a multiple choice. Any other ex-big leaguers in that camp?

="Edgy DC":1sfgljfz]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:1sfgljfz] What's Distefano's Met pedigree (other than breaking up David Cone's no-hitter?) At least this will give Distefano and DePastino a chance to exchange each other's misdirected mail. Benjamin Grimm Dec 16 2008 12:49 PM He was a replacement player with the Mets in spring training 1995. G-Fafif Dec 16 2008 12:59 PM Now that you say it, it sounds remotely familiar though I have to confess I might have missed it on a multiple choice. Any other ex-big leaguers in that camp? metsguyinmichigan Dec 16 2008 02:07 PM Stan Jefferson, I think. I saw a couple of those spring games. HahnSolo Dec 16 2008 02:25 PM ="G-Fafif":1lmhw7l1]="Edgy DC":1lmhw7l1]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:1lmhw7l1] What's Distefano's Met pedigree (other than breaking up David Cone's no-hitter?) At least this will give Distefano and DePastino a chance to exchange each other's misdirected mail.[/quote:1lmhw7l1] Italian restaurants in West Michigan are scurrying to bid for the postgame spread. HahnSolo Dec 16 2008 02:26 PM ="metsguyinmichigan":2a90z7f9]Stan Jefferson, I think. I saw a couple of those spring games.[/quote:2a90z7f9] Two guys I went to high school with, Cliff Gonzalez (8th round pick of the Mets in '85) and Chris Walpole, were in that camp. Gonzalez and Jefferson knew each other having both been from Co-op City. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 17 2008 09:11 AM ] DYKSTRA DROPS THE BALL By KEITH J. KELLY December 17, 2008 -- FORMER New York Mets out fielder Lenny Dykstra appears to be striking out with his magazine, Players Club. Dykstra, who helped the 1986 Mets capture the World Series before landing with the Philadelphia Phillies, is leaving behind a string of unpaid bills and a constant parade of shifting editors and office addresses. In the latest upheaval, Chris Frankie, the acting editor, resigned Dec. 4 along with two other staffers. Now Loren Feldman, former editor-in-chief of Philadelphia magazine, is said to be ready to join as the new chief editor. "Loren Feldman is the new editor," said Dykstra. Meanwhile, Frankie says he's owed back pay. But Dykstra sees things differently: "That's not true. Frankie owes me money. Whatever he's talking about is delusional." Counters Frankie, "That's beyond ridiculous. How could an employee owe an employer money?" Beyond three months' back pay, Frankie said he's also owed for business expenses. Frankie, who had originally helped Dykstra write the TheStreet.com's "Nails on the Numbers" column, got the editor job in August after Dykstra's talks with Neil Amdur, a former sports editor at The New York Times, collapsed at the last minute after a fight over Amdur's ability to hire deputies. "I did fly out there for a meeting with Dykstra about the editor's job," Amdur confirmed. "I spent a couple of days with him. He did offer me the job." The last issue of Players Club was published in October, and the November issue will now be combined into a year-end double issue that has yet to appear. His aim with the magazine was to help professional athletes make sensible investments with the money they earn from sports to ensure they don't go broke when their pro careers end. But present and former staffers say that Dykstra, who during his days with Major League Baseball had the nickname "Nails," is tough as nails when it comes to paying his staff or vendors. Frequently, sources said, he got staff to use their own credit cards to pay for ex penses related to the maga zine, and took months to re imburse the employees. Although the magazine is less than a year old, it has al ready had four different printers and three different editors. Several vendors have also stopped doing business with the magazine. The latest vendor to suspend business is Getty Images, which sources say is owed around $40,000. Dykstra claims that's not true. "I have a great relationship with them," he said of Getty. One source who's worked closely with Dykstra said he "has a haphazard way of paying - he just wires you money." "It's always that the money is just about to come in and everyone will be paid," this person said, adding that if someone demands payment, then Dykstra turns on them. "If you demand payment, then you are the enemy. "He always feels abandoned by people, but he doesn't seem to realize that he's the reason people abandon him." Frayed Knot Dec 17 2008 09:24 AM This surprises me not. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 17 2008 09:26 AM Gotta love the irony in this venture being all about athletes spending wisely. Edgy DC Dec 17 2008 09:26 AM Another day, another house of cards. Edgy DC Dec 22 2008 03:04 PM Aaron Ledesma, infield coach for the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees. The Yankees get a AAA infield coach? What a ripoff! Frayed Knot Dec 22 2008 07:36 PM Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore. Edgy DC Dec 26 2008 08:28 AM DJ has no regrets. Of course he doesn't. He got to be a Met. D.J. Dozier had a Bo Jackson-like versatility Posted to: 50 Greatest Sports By Ed Miller The Virginian-Pilot As William, Bill, or even Billy, it just would not have worked as well. William Henry "D.J." Dozier would have been no less the athlete without that alliterative name, smooth as one of his touchdown runs or fielding gems at shortstop. That name - "D.J. Dozier" - was the shiny bow on top of the package of prep stardom. And Dozier was the complete package: a three-sport standout at Kempsville High, wooed by virtually every major football program in the country, coveted by virtually every pro baseball scout. Virginia Tech coach Bill Dooley came to the Norfolk Sports Club in December 1982 and made a public pitch for Dozier, something that would not be allowed under recruiting rules today, when coaches can't woo prospects through the media. Major league teams waved dollar signs in front of him, trying to convince him to skip football and play baseball. Dozier, No. 12 on the list of greatest athletes from South Hampton Roads, chose football - and Penn State. Later, after several years in the NFL, he reversed course and picked up a bat and glove. Good enough to briefly make it to the majors, he was, in an era of two-sport dabblers, a local, lower-wattage version of guys such as Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders. "Obviously, when you look at the statistics, the numbers are certainly not what I hoped they would have been," said Dozier, now 43 and back in Virginia Beach working as a business consultant. "But the fact that I had the opportunity to go that far with what I would call God-given ability is a tremendous blessing." A dynamo at Penn State, Dozier forever will be a made man among Nittany Lion greats after leading the team in rushing four straight years, earning All-America honors twice and scoring the winning touchdown in a national championship victory over Miami. Things never clicked for him in the NFL, though. A first-round pick, Dozier missed time with injuries and didn't like the way the Vikings were using him - which was not too often. After three years, he signed with the Mets and began the climb through the minors in 1990. Meanwhile, contract talks with the Vikings stalled. Dozier finally re-signed with them halfway through the 1990 season. Dozier finished out that season and played six games with Detroit in 1991. With his baseball career seemingly blossoming, he left football behind. He would play just 25 games for the Mets, though, in 1992. In 1994, at 28, he moved on with his life, retiring from baseball. Dozier has coached, traveled the world doing missionary work, worked as a financial planner and investment banker. He moved back to Virginia recently from Allentown, Pa. He brought with him no regrets. Dozier said he remembered a former Kempsville teammate who played at Lock Haven University. Dozier knew he was good enough to play at Penn State and told his coaches. They offered him a chance to come to Happy Valley. In the end, though, the friend chose the security of staying at Lock Haven, later second-guessing his decision not to take his shot. "I never forgot what he told me about the regret part of it," Dozier said. "That's what it was for me with baseball. I look at it as something that was a bit nuts, but I really felt that I could do it. "The biggest thing about it is I didn't want to look back and regret not trying." He'll never have to. Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372 ed.miller@pilotonline.com metsguyinmichigan Dec 26 2008 11:17 AM That's a nice story! Plus, I'd forgotten how nasty those old Tides caps were. G-Fafif Dec 26 2008 01:32 PM ="Frayed Knot":34ueq9bz]Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore.[/quote:34ueq9bz] How do you suppose he'll greet his new players...or monstrously huge batboy? themetfairy Dec 26 2008 02:12 PM ="G-Fafif":1emwxaju]="Frayed Knot":1emwxaju]Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore.[/quote:1emwxaju] How do you suppose he'll greet his new players...or monstrously huge batboy?[/quote:1emwxaju] No - just with a simple, "Welcome Abordick," of course! Edgy DC Dec 30 2008 07:42 AM Felix Mantilla, spreading the good chromosomes around. Mantilla earning court time at Yale December 30, 2008 NEWS-SUN STAFF REPORT Mundelein High grad Raffi Mantilla has worked his way into the playing rotation for the Yale University men's basketball team. The sophomore guard has played in all eight Bulldog games (2-6 record), and is averaging nearly 10 minutes of action each game. He's scored a total of 18 points in those eight contests. Mantilla is the grandson of former major-league baseball player Felix Mantilla, who played with the Milwaukee Braves, New York Mets and Boston Red Sox in a long pro career. MFS62 Jan 03 2009 02:29 PM In keeping with the three name thread in the non-baseball forum, I'll always remember him as Felix Lamela Mantilla. (I dunno why, but his middle name always stuck in my mind) Later Edgy DC Jan 03 2009 02:31 PM Yup, and time to retire Brogna 2008.

Holy fuck, you've got the umpire's card in there. Jesus fucking Alou, that thing is beautiful.

Final game ever at Shea Stadium, got the 'L'. "GAS CAN SCHOENEWEIS!" screamed the helpful man sitting behind me as he departed the mound and then for seemingly hours thereafter. Watched him in the same week get lit up by the Brewers and Cubs in May '07, probably the week he established his unshakeable reputation. In the latter game, Aramis Ramirez flew him to the moon and let him pitch among the stars. Like a lot of Met relievers, just undependable enough to not ever fully trust if ultimately not nearly as bad as their reps would have it. In retrospect, the one-hitter[/url:15id22ix] on which Pedro and four relievers (Muniz, Heilman, Schoeneweis and Wagner) combined in July looks like one of the most Amazin' of all Met pitching efforts.

Get out your handkerchiefs, courtesy of Metstradamus[/url:331z0wqr]...

="John Cougar Lunchbucket":z7cqzc1i]Also the Phils got C Ronny Paulino from Pittsburgh for a minor leaguer.[/quote:z7cqzc1i] Ronny Paulino hit a long home run off Feliciano in 2006. I extrapolated that to mean he's been a Met-killer on the order of Expo Endy, but no, actually, it's the only one he blasted. It's still going, however. willpie Dec 12 2008 12:33 PM I had the impression that Paulino was good and I wanted him for the Mets, but looking at his stats, I can't remember why. metirish Dec 17 2008 06:56 PM From Kat O'Brien's blog ] Cameron-Cabrera talks off It sounds as though the Yankees will not be getting Mike Cameron to play centerfield next year. That could change, of course, but I just got off the phone with Brewers GM Doug Melvin. He said: "Nothing new. At this point, I don't anticipate it's something that we would (do). ... I haven't talked to Brian (Cashman) since last week." Melvin said they had originally looked at moving Cameron to gain some flexibility on the pitching front but that is no longer such a need. Said Melvin: "I like Mike Cameron a lot. He means a lot in our clubhouse. He's a very positive presence. He's a good player. He's played on a lot of playoff teams -- maybe more than anybody. He's got a lot of intangibles. (A trade is) not something that we're pushing at this time." The Yankees obviously aren't pushing it either, given that Cashman and Melvin haven't spoken since leaving Las Vegas last week. Rockin' Doc Dec 17 2008 07:36 PM I always liked Cameron and still do. I'm glad that it appears he will be spared the indignity of being forced to join the dark side. metirish Dec 18 2008 09:47 AM Apparently this now opens the door for Manny to play the OF , a part of me hopes this circus comes to town. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 18 2008 09:48 AM It could mean the worst outfield in the history of o.b.b., at least defensively. Manny-Johnny-Nady... wow. Fman99 Dec 18 2008 11:13 AM ="metirish":51v3v590]Apparently this now opens the door for Manny to play the OF , a part of me hopes this circus comes to town.[/quote:51v3v590] If, by "town," you mean the Bronx and not Flushing, then sure, bring it on. seawolf17 Dec 18 2008 11:16 AM Eff that. I'd bring Manny to Shea for two years and $50 million. Centerfield Dec 18 2008 12:25 PM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket":1tuzaza8]It could mean the worst outfield in the history of o.b.b., at least defensively. Manny-Johnny-Nady... wow.[/quote:1tuzaza8] Nope. That distinction belongs to any outfield featuring Roger Cedeno in centerfield. seawolf17 Dec 18 2008 01:18 PM ="Centerfield"]="John Cougar Lunchbucket"]It could mean the worst outfield in the history of o.b.b., at least defensively. Manny-Johnny-Nady... wow. Nope. That distinction belongs to any outfield featuring Roger Cedeno in centerfield. "Wait... what?"

One of the differences between 2006 and 2007 was the Endy factor. Endy was everywhere in '06, not just deep left with a glove over the wall. In '07, after getting hurt, he wasn't the same. As I sat in the Upper Deck during the final Friday night game against the Marlins (the one when Ollie couldn't keep it together), I wondered why Willie wasn't using Endy. I learned he was in Venezuela for the funeral of his sister and was missing the rest of the regular season. Very sad, of course, and very telling, I thought. No Endy, no playoffs. Hard to remember that I used to associate this guy with absolutely annihilating us as an Expo. Hit .364 versus the Mets when he wore a funny M on his cap. There was a series in late '02 at Shea when every time I turned around, he was on base, particularly the Esix Snead Game, if any of y'all remember that one. It took him about two minutes to make me forget he had ever been anything but a Met. I read around the time they handed out his bobblehead that he was tired of being asked about The Catch, but I never saw him do anything but smile and answer appreciatively. At least two different "acts" went on "Mets Weekly" and performed tributes to Endy, one a song, the other a beat poem. On both occasions (same piece of video), Endy responded, "Thanks for the song, guys." Thanks for the catch, Endy. And everything else.

="themetfairy":8rwa00al]I guess my biggest memory of Aaron was one of the first times that I met G-Fafif in person. It was in the late innings, and I had gone over to the area where he was sitting. Heilman made a bad defensive play. Although I never booed the man, I remember pointing my finger and yelling, "Bad Aaron, Bad!" like he was a dog or something. I'm kind of amazed that G-Fafif still hung out with me after that....[/quote:8rwa00al] Oh god, that was that horrible grounder when he didn't cover first, wasn't it? I thought that was an incredibly unheady move by a guy who had to rely on headyness. I wouldn't have hung out with you if you hadn't admonished him Benjamin Grimm Dec 11 2008 11:53 AM ="Centerfield":mm2drzzu]I think Ben Grimm even got a spot start in 2006. [/quote:mm2drzzu] CF is dumping on me a lot this week. I think I may have to pout or something. themetfairy Dec 11 2008 12:17 PM ="G-Fafif":u5aeok49]="themetfairy":u5aeok49]I guess my biggest memory of Aaron was one of the first times that I met G-Fafif in person. It was in the late innings, and I had gone over to the area where he was sitting. Heilman made a bad defensive play. Although I never booed the man, I remember pointing my finger and yelling, "Bad Aaron, Bad!" like he was a dog or something. I'm kind of amazed that G-Fafif still hung out with me after that....[/quote:u5aeok49] Oh god, that was that horrible grounder when he didn't cover first, wasn't it? I thought that was an incredibly unheady move by a guy who had to rely on headyness. I wouldn't have hung out with you if you hadn't admonished him [/quote:u5aeok49] Yup� Frustrating as all heck. G-Fafif Dec 11 2008 12:35 PM Get out your handkerchiefs, courtesy of Metstradamus[/url:331z0wqr]... Gwreck Dec 11 2008 01:40 PM Can't see why any of the non-masochists among us would want to watch that. Zvon Dec 11 2008 01:47 PM ="Benjamin Grimm"] ... I think I may have to pout or something. You better not pout... Zvon Dec 11 2008 01:50 PM Wish him well, hope he gets to start and goes like .500 for the rest of his days, don't let the screen door leave waffle marks on that howdy doody face on your way out. Yes, he is walking backwards out the door. Don't question it. Howdy doody face^ attgig Dec 11 2008 02:19 PM i always liked the guy too. my favorite memory is 2009, #5 starter in seattle. 13-8 record. 4.25 era. oh wait, that hasn't happened yet? HahnSolo Dec 11 2008 02:58 PM As mentioned earlier, the 3 perfect innings that Friday night against the Yankees in 2006 stand out. I also thought it was cool in 2006, at least initially, that he used London Calling as his entrance music. Frayed Knot Dec 12 2008 10:32 AM ="MFS62":awnr4y7m]I remember when he was drafted, reports said he was "closest (as in getting there quickest) to the Majors" and "a sure fire #2 or #3 major league starter".[/quote:awnr4y7m] As a college senior in the midst of juniors, Jucos, and prep kids, calling him closer to making it was a logical guess. As is projecting a mid-1st rounder as a #2 or #3 so long one doesn't take phrases like "sure-fire" too seriously (assuming that phrase was even used). Some revisionist history tried to turn Heilman's pick into a "reach" but that was a load of crap. Drafted 3 times: as a HSer by the Yanx (later round), then 31st overall by the Twins as a college Jr, then 18th overall when he passed up the Twins offer and went undefeated as a Notre Dame Sr. But fans tend to think they're guaranteed perennial All-Stars w/mid-1st round picks, but I once went back and looked at all 18th overall picks and to find a better one than Heilman one had to go back to Willie Wilson back in the closing days of the Nixon administration. His fall-off this year was stunning but what's amazing is those now acting as if this was the real Aaron all along. Edgy DC Dec 12 2008 10:54 AM Real conversation mid-summer last year with a real person. "Do you know what his record was last year?" "Um, no." "Some Mets fan. Seven and seven. So don't tell me that he was good because, even at his best, he was a .500 pitcher on a winning team." "He, um..." "He sucks. He's a fuck and he sucks."I think the Mets should charge more at the gate if you look unreasonably angry. Edgy DC Dec 12 2008 11:22 AM Aaron, who gives me what will be my sig line for a day or two, goes down in history as the last inhabitant of Tom Seaver's locker. metirish Dec 13 2008 05:53 AM Heilman getting lustily booed by Mets fans on the road was the worst , it was one of those cities where you get lots of Mets fans , Colorado I think it was.

Every time they zoomed in on him finding his arm angle, his shoulder drooping just a bit, he reminded me of Shermy, the generally forgotten Peanuts kid, doing his part in the holiday dance number. I'd start humming the "Linus and Lucy" theme and think of "A Charlie Brown Christmas".

Spectacular bunt to beat Rockies early in '07 an extremely distant second.

Siddown Pujols. You too, Jeter.

Threw a one-hitter. It was apparently chopped liver.