G-Fafif

batmagadanleadoff wrote: ="G-Fafif"]A captive audience will often buy whatever is available, no matter what is charged. I agree. I suspect that the "taste" threshold at which fans will refuse to buy stadium food is not so demanding, certainly above rancid or putrid, but maybe not that much higher. And then maybe, the Mets recognize this and are ruthless businesspeople who exploit this to the fullest, deliberately charging the most for the least. I can't say for sure where the Mets food ranks league-wide because I haven't been to most MLB stadiums. I do know that Shea hot-dogs suck and have always sucked -- a somewhat soggy water logged stick of pork with a gelatinous texture on the inside, as if you were biting into ham flavored Jello. Only more Jello-y than porky. And you don't need a modern stadium to serve up a decent hot dog. To be charitable toward Shea (and even YS), it is not of the generation of parks that are designed to offer an all-around entertainment and amenity showcase. It's baseball and basics, which isn't so bad if you're kind of used to it. It wasn't until the OP@CYs and the like showed you could sell stuff that wasn't the same ol' same ol' that everybody in baseball got a clue. Shea has tried to do some interesting and local things, like the aforementioned Daruma, like Mama's of Corona, like the late, lamented Rusty's stand, but they haven't been priority. They don't quite know where to put them, at least not so everybody can drop coin at them. I think the Met fan base, the part that hasn't been to too many other ballparks, is in for a shock next year, assuming the Mets step up to the plate and stock the concessions in a fashion comparable to the new wave of parks. It may not take the place of a winning ballclub (if our team sucks; not saying it will), but it does make for a more pleasant all-around experience. And as long as arms and legs will be charged, might as well get some bang for the cuisine buck.

A captive audience will often buy whatever is available, no matter what is charged. I would expect an upgrade in Citi Field. It would be tough to imagine building a palace and then feeding the guests from the same old dungeon. Someone from SI sent us a note when they began putting this together. I recommended Daruma of Great Neck despite the sushi being confined to field level. Sorry it didn't get mentioned. And today's sausage and onion (I'm not a pepper person) was the best thing about this afternoon's affair. The roll could have been heated, but Castillo also could have turned a double play.

I was there. It was freezing. It was a farce. It was September 30 Lite. It was inane dronery. It was, by the end, quite spacious in every section. It was frigging 1978 out there today.

I voted June since I figure the Mets will give him, in the spirit of Joe Frazier, through Memorial Day, but will then be sensitive/paranoid enough to let Joe Torre get out of town on June 1. I'm with MFS62, however, on when I want him fired.

Today was some horrible mascot from some children's educational thing to which there was some tie-in. I booed heartily and then a water main broke. In the Countdown Like It Oughta Be, we paid homage to the movie and television versions of The Odd Couple, with Bill Mazeroski (who hit into the triple play that Oscar, covering the Met-Buc game at Shea, missed in the film because Felix was calling him to ask when he'd be coming home for dinner; Maz was also in on some other noteworthy NY baseball history) and Jack Klugman (TV's Oscar Madison, who probably wore a Mets cap more than any character in the history of the medium) doing the honors by removing 67. Numbers 72-67 in detail here[/url:2c6s44s5].

Eddie C. had Endy C. He likes playing time.

Leadoff homer to Nate McLouth? Must...boo...Santana...

The excitement surrounding the appearance of yet another Lincoln-Mercury representative is palpable. Palpable is a synonym for bogus, right? It rained last night but the Countdown Like It Oughta Be knows only clear skies (and perhaps a few puffy cumulus clouds). We continue to be keyed to the date and the opponent, otherwise our hypotheticals go off the rails, so if you are setting your watches, we are removing number 68 tonight. The honors go to notable participants in the Mets-Pirates Fog Game of May 25, 1979: Buc starter Jim Rooker Pinch-hitter and Met thorn Mike Easler Pitcher of non-record Skip Lockwood and he whose triple fell through the pea soup, resulting in one of the gloomiest nights in the history of Shea Stadium coming to a premature end (ruled a 3-3 tie)... Joel Youngblood. Those who were to pull down 69 will return on August 11 for the makeup game (and pull down 23A, I guess).

From a commenter named "the dude formerly known as bill l." on Brooklyn Met Fan, a couple of weeks ago: ]4/10/1976 Red Smith, New York Times �Temperatures were creeping into the upper 40�s, but a snaggle-toothed wind whistling in from left field lent a Joe Namath touch to an entertainment starring that other New York folk hero, Tom Seaver. This is a folk hero, incidentally, whom the folks welcomed back with boos because he earns more money than they do�� July 12, 1983 When Darryl Strawberry went to bat for the Mets in the eighth inning of Sunday�s game, many in the crowd of 17,666 at Shea Stadium booed. Strawberry has heard a lot of boos throughout his difficult rookie season. July 1, 1987 When Doug Sisk of the Mets complained earlier this season that he, Darryl Strawberry and Howard Johnson had been unfair targets of booing at Shea Stadium, they sounded like the latest victims in a phenomenon that started 26 seasons ago, at the beginning of the Mets� existence. The first player to draw the wrath of the crowd was Jim Marshall, one of the 25 original Mets. ��It was our opening home game on April 13, 1962, after we had lost our first two games in St. Louis,'� the outfielder-first baseman said. ��We were playing Pittsburgh at the Polo Grounds and Gil Hodges, a big favorite in New York from his days with the Brooklyn Dodgers, was supposed to start at first base. ��But Gil came up with a sore knee, so when the starting lineups were announced with me at first base, the capacity crowd let out with a long wave of boos. ��What do you think of that? Before swinging a bat or touching a ball, I was the first Met to be booed in New York.'� July 28, 1989 Carter Comes Back, but to Cold Shoulder Associated Press New York�Gary Carter would like the next two months to prove he can still play baseball. Fans at Shea Stadium needed much less time to decide. Carter came off the disabled list Tuesday and hit into a double play as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning. On Wednesday night, he started and was 0-3 as the New York Mets lost to Pittsburgh, 3-2. It was a humid night and the 40,000 on hand were not in a particularly charitable mood. With each out, Carter was booed just a little harder�� Mercury News Wire Services December 1, 1989, Page 8D, San Jose Mercury News (CA) Juan Samuel asked the New York Mets to trade him next week at the winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn., the New York Daily News reported today. Samuel was acquired June 18 for Roger McDowell and Lenny Dykstra, but he hit only .228 and had to endure booing at Shea Stadium, in part because he had replaced the popular Dykstra and Mookie Wilson. So Samuel told club officials he would not mind a trade. 8/24/98 NY Times �At a time when the Mets need all the help they can get as they battle for a spot as a wild-card entry in the playoffs, how does one account for the fans at Shea stadium booing Mike Piazza, their leading slugger, with an enthusiasm perhaps second only to their shouts to aatract the attention of the beer vendor? Newsday 4/4/2006 Beltran boos carry over. Byline: Wallace Matthews Apr. 4�Even in the best of times, it doesn�t take long for New Yorkers to isolate and attack a target. Yesterday, it took about a half-hour for Mets fans to lock on to Carlos Beltran. Who knows when they will let go? The boos rained down on the Mets� centerfielder early and often, pausing only when the final out of the game was made about two hours later and the home team had secured a 3-2 victory over the Washington Nationals. That was the direct result of Beltran�s peg from the left-centerfield gap to the glove of Anderson Hernandez to retire Jose Vidro trying to stretch a two-out single, but the cheers seemed more in response�� Daily News, April 12, 2008 �After being greeted with the longest and loudest ovation during Opening Day introductions Tuesday, Johan Santana had his official �Welcome to New York� moment Saturday. Flushing�s new ace and savior heard some boos at Shea as he departed the mound in the seventh inning of a 5-3 loss to .Milwaukee in his long-anticipated home debut.�

="SteveJRogers"]Weather Permitting, and this game faces an anoying thing about doing this in the pre-game rather than waiting until AFTER the game becomes official Date 4/28 Opponent Pirates Number Removed 70 Remover Emerson Boozer, Randy Beverly and John Schmitt of the Super Bowl Champion 1969 Jets and Ed Kranepool of the World Champion 1969 Mets FaithAndFearInFlushing.com's Countdown Like It Ought To Be's Remover With Xavier Nady's return to Flushing, Greg and Jason honored Mets who JUST missed out on being on postseason rides: 2006's Nady, 1969's Kevin Collins, 1986's Ed Lynch, and 1999's Brian McRae Thanks for making us part of your tracking, Steve. I should point out, in the spirit of keeping numbers straight, our method is removing a number in the middle of the fifth (more or less an official game; plus it will delay the opposing pitcher). so tonight, had it been played, we would have removed 69 and revealed 68, or how many games remained beyond this one. What the Mets do is unveil the number before the game, so they would be showing 69. It's all more hypothetical than usual given the rain. Fortunately, in the Countdown Like It Oughta Be, like in Southern California, it never rains.

Sherman writes: ]Yankee fans do the role call early in the game. Does that mean they call out each player's name and describe what his duties to the team are? Or that they are the most encouraging of souls? (Oh wait, the MFYs have nothing to do with any of this, but every columnist who used to cover them has to invoke them even when not writing about them. Silly me.) Post guy comes out against booing on Sunday, rain on Monday. Yippee. This will be anecdotal by necessity because, unlike Joel Sherman, I can't read tens of thousands of minds, but from where I sat on Sunday, boos did not pour down on Delgado's shiny pate after not taking a curtain call. He was applauded for his accomplishments and, when he didn't respond, it felt collectively shrugged off. Certainly in my section and, to my ears, in general. Carlos' reaction didn't at all feel like The Story while I was there on Sunday. Somehow I'm not surprised that it is in the papers and on the FAN this Monday. The dissatisfaction with a slumping slugger morphing into appreciation after he actually slugs reminds me of what George Foster experienced intermittently after being buried in his first year. He'd be booed, he'd break out, he'd be given a hero's greeting and then he'd be back to boos with the next couple of ohfers. Foster would tip his cap anyway. Didn't seem to win him any enduring points in the long run.

4/27: Our 70 was removed by the dynamic duo of Fred & Nelson, for helping revive National League baseball with their purchase of the Mets in 1980.

Their 71 and our 71 actually meshed. Today was Jack Lang Day (raising awareness and funds for epilepsy research; Jack's grandson has it). The Mets had Jack's four children reveal the number. In the spirit of JLD, we had three of Jack's colleagues who have covered the team, in one way or another, since the early days do it: George Vecsey, Vic Ziegel and Roger Angell...plus longtime PR maven Jay Horwitz.

We covered Bob Mandt at 78, in conjunction with Pete Flynn. Our 72 was Henry Aaron, ostensibly for driving in the first postseason runs in Shea history, mostly for being one of the greats to grace Shea as a visitor, a little to tweak he who broke his record.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Oh wait, sorry. I thought this was the Blake-Paint Branch JV IGT. Got an exclusive KTE on that tilt last night. Didn't sound promising.

The curly W pretzels (to say nothing of the company) kicked Aase.

And I thought I K'd the E before reading this. An even better understanding is in tow.

Jose Reyes, Rey Ordonez and Derek Jeter have all had better careers than Wally Matthews.

themetfairy wrote: ="G-Fafif"]="attgig"]here's a slideshow of the food in the park: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/foodanddining/features/2008/nats-park-food-040208/gallery.html That W pretzel is quite enticing...unless the Mets fall behind. I'll have to wait for another trip to try the pretzel - can't eat bread this week. But it is cute - kind of like those Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream pops at Disney World. We'll check out for ourselves whether Nationals Park leans more to cute or to cool. You'd think between the Mets' first trip in and the Papal visit, there'd be some sort of chametz dispensation in the air...though probably not.

attgig wrote: here's a slideshow of the food in the park: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/foodanddining/features/2008/nats-park-food-040208/gallery.html That W pretzel is quite enticing...unless the Mets fall behind.

You can't see it with the naked eye, but the dude affixes a KICK ME sign to the back of his jersey before every game.

smg58 wrote: The presence of Sanchez helps... Immensely. It's almost like we dropped him off at a pawn shop and just got to pick him up, looking (to this point) as good as new.

Larger point taken and generally agreed upon, but keep in mind (as I'm sure you do) that bullpen ERA is always a little deceiving. Two nights ago, Aaron Heilman comes in with two on and gives up a three-run homer. Only one earned run to the pen right there.

Good Times? Pelfrey not gettin' hassled, not gettin' hustled, keepin' his head above water...