G-Fafif

Part III is the most amazing Met conversation I've ever read. It makes me want to burn Peter Golenbock's book in Casey Stengel Plaza. Congrats on putting together a great series. (I assume your next q&a subject will represent a terrible comedown from Noble.)

Centerfield wrote: Fuck you Milledge. You got to play big league ball in New York at the age of 22. Everyone should have it so bad. I hope Pedro cleans his clock this year. At 22, Milledge probably has no idea what "can't go through anything worse" means. That said, he's a National now, so... YEAH! WHAT CF SAID!

]The only question is whether veteran big-game specialist Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez or talented prospect Mike Pelfrey gets the fifth spot. A little narrative-whoring going on on the part of Mr. Shenin. If it was to his benefit to write a disparaging article about the Mets, I believe he would have framed this choice as, "As for a fifth starter, the Mets are forced to salvage between decrepit, injury-riddled Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez and unproven Mike Pelfrey, a washout in previous trials." His point is the Nationals blow and the Mets are great and he's going to take every opportunity to pound it home. I wouldn't say the Mets' fifth-starter situation is any more spectacular than that of most teams. (Not the point of the story, I realize, but I'm wary of these sorts of framing devices.) I don't have a good feeling about Church. Maybe I'm too consciously comparing him to Nady, who was sunny or at least innocuous when he came in. As for Schneider, at least in the context of this article, I find myself admiring the wistfulness for the only organization he's ever known. Hopefully he'll be thinking by April, "I missed that?" Maybe the difference between Schneider and Church is maturity. I surely wasn't holding immaturity against Milledge. Quotes are quotes and past is past. Strap it on, fellas, and let's see what ya got!

Willets Point wrote: ="G-Fafif"]Could be worse: And no, Citi logo not a major detriment to happiness. Just rather limp. Would be cooler if there was an arrow in the word field. Don't know if the situation has changed, but I remember reading when FedEx Field opened that there was no sign of a Redskins logo anywhere in the vicinity of the stadium, including the parking lots. You wouldn't have known who played there just by driving by, but you might have dropped off a package that had to be there absolutely, positively overnight.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Wise Guy eh? (eyepokes Seawolf) Jose Reyes may have endorsement company.

Interviewed by Kevin Burkhardt on SportsNite Sunday, Wise was asked about finding a place in New York for his family. Maybe, he suggested with more than a touch of what seemed to be genuine anxiety over housing, he'll pull his U-Haul into a camp ground and they'll stay there. At $1.2 mil per year, he should have his pick of trailer parks.

Could be worse: And no, Citi logo not a major detriment to happiness. Just rather limp.

HC, Very funny and reasonably accurate, I imagine. holychicken wrote: In walks the head honcho, Charles Prince. The head honcho, incidentally, shares a first and last name with my father, but not a middle initial (nor, sadly, a joint account).

Logos for ballparks seem like a relatively recent conceit. Stadiumpage.com has a slew running down its scrollable sidebar: http://www.stadiumpage.com/

Sayeth official press release: ]The logo features Citi's own globally recognized emblem enclosed in a royal-blue diamond. Extending from one side of the diamond is an orange banner with the word "field," written in a font reminiscent of that used at the old Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. The former home of the Brooklyn Dodgers was in many ways an inspiration for the new stadium's design. Field, also written as it might appear on a sign for an Airport Parking Field, which you might find in a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich.

As I mistakenly said twice in the comments section, the Desi Relaford observation alone was worth the price of admission. And his disdain for Trachsel getting Seaver's locker is like a refund check.

="themetfairy"] You can see that we have four seats from the Vet. What I want to do is purchase four seats from Shea. Then we'll move the two seats on the left over to the right, and have the four Shea seats on the left. That would give us Shea seats on the first base side and Vet seats on the visitor's side of our baseball diamond patio. Let there be no mistake: This is the greatest backyard in the northeast. And that's without the Shea seats.

Johan the first Met as a Met on the cover of SI to not actually take part in a game as a Met since the very first Met SI cover, Ol' Case, March 5, 1962.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: That IS a great cover. Used to be they needed models in swimsuits to warm up their readers in February.

Johan rocks the SI cover: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/covers/issues/2008/0225.html Story here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/02/19/santana0225/ Good of the Mets to get the jinx out of the way last September.

="Frayed Knot"]It was one of those summer storms you could not only see coming but knew that as soon as it hit there was going to be no more baseball for a while. So after describing its progress for an inning or two he called an inning-ending ground-out to 2nd with the words; "... and there are raindrops on the bill of his cap as he throws to 1st for the out" FK, thanks for filling in some of the details. I've been trying to track down the actual transcript where I thought I first read it, but can't find it. The bill of his cap part...still blows me away.

I read the man once described an impending storm with incredible precision. The Dodgers were at Braves Field in Boston and while he was doing play-by-play, Red described how the rain was now pelting this part of town, and that part of town, now a few drops on the Charles River...until the first drizzle hit the outfield dark skies finally opened up over the ballgame. Astounding.

It just occurred to me that in 2000, a division title, a Wild Card, a Division Series, a League Championship and a World Series were all clinched at Shea Stadium. Putting aside the irksome fact that two of those honors went to the two mostly roundly hated teams in Metsdom, I'm thinking no other ballpark can lay claim to that much guzzling of Champagne in one year. From the moment that postseason ended, I've thought of 2000 as the year the Mets won the pennant. Everything thereafter, while not necessarily la-la-la-I-can't-hear you territory, doesn't get in the way of that. I liked being the first team to clinch a spot in the World Series. The next night, Bob Costas kept referring to the deciding game of the ALCS as a battle to determine who would earn the right to face the Mets. They probably should have canceled the postseason right there, because it never actually got any better.

Vic Sage wrote: Gfafif, your meter is totally off. I wasn't doing limericks. I was doing Metericks.

Karl got a nice mention in this week's SI (print edition). It repeated the nugget about him waving "JOSE CAN YOU SEE?" when Jose Cardenal would strike out. I think this is the most notice Jose Cardenal's Met career has ever received.

Love everything after a while. Except for Fran Healy. Never liked him.

The Mets were in pain, so they turned to John Maine To keep them alive, to save their campaign Except for Paul Hoover The no-hit remover John sucked it up and left barely a stain

I'm a Pelfrey He's a Pelfrey She's a Pelfrey We're a Pelfrey Wouldn't you like to be a Pelfrey, too? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_4VdV5KvgU

Moises made noises like he needed a break Playing nonstop for weeks his legs couldn't take But he couldn't start sitting As he wouldn't stop hitting Bet carrying the team caused his shoulders to ache

It does feel like they've been rolling out this story every February. I guess they have -- three of them. That's right, he's only 24. I'd be surprised if he's not in the rotation by mid-year (and it's not out of desperation). Then again, I'm in pre-P&C optimism mode. If Pelfrey's Makin' It, then this coming year's gonna be his year: http://youtube.com/watch?v=X9-sXmnfmB4