Gwreck

Since 2003, the team that won Game 1 of the World Series went on to win the entire series. 10 of the last 11 World Series. Winning Game 1 is a huge advantage. Having that game at home is a clear advantage.

Frayed Knot wrote: Gotta like Joe Buck and his intentionally misleading 'stat' about how the team with the home field in the WS has won the last five times -- while failing to mention that only once in those five did the series go to a seventh game. Is it, though? I would expect there is also an advantage to having games one and two at home. I note that the home team won Game 1 of the World Series each of the last four years, and that team went on to win the WS.

I blame Matheny for not starting Clayton Kershaw.

I was not a fan of the Colon deal when it happened and any chance we have to avoid paying him $11 million next year seems like a good idea to me. I bet there are a lot of better uses for that money in the offseason. I guess it could be seen as "giving up" but even after a great homestand we have a 16% chance of making the playoffs. I doubt Hefner pitches any meaningful innings in the majors this year. And yes, I am fine with promoting Syndergaard or Montero.

Any chance the Mets could just skip the all-star break? No?

I thought from early on that Bartolo really didn't have it tonight but he turned it into a decent start. Pitcher Hitting Eighth resulted in three innings where Young lead off. Fun time at the park in those "Murphy specials" - 2 really-quite-good seats for $28 (total! Not each) - one of the best promos the Mets have had in quite a while.

Frayed Knot wrote: It's possible that not all of those 11 came against the Mets, but that's the story I'm sticking to until proven otherwise. Only two. But he also had another three 2-hit games. In 46 plate appearances this year, Freddie's 16 for 38 against the Mets with a 1.158 OPS.

Throwing a last-call on this sucker. Those who wanted stuff, please send me a PM with the address where it should be sent. Anyone who wants something, please let me know.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: *And it's been a long time, I think, since the Mets had one of those every team's gotta have at least one all star pick. Armando Benitez, 2003 was the last true "token" representative. Bobby Bonilla, 1993 was a lesser choice but he did have 20 homers in the first half of the season. John Stearns, 1982 was also a token representative.

Lots of productive cleaning this weekend at the Gwreck homestead has led to a discovery of a surplus of Mets stuff. I think most of this was acquired through in-stadium giveaways over the past 10 seasons or so. Any or all of these great items can be yours, free of any cost or charge. If you would like anything, please let me know. Otherwise it's probably destined for the trashcan: 1. Mini-bat, with Mets 50th Anniversary logo 2. "Mets Fan on Board" license plate frame 3. "Shortstop" Beanie Baby - bear holding baseball 4. Nikon "Greatest Moments at Shea" Pennant 5. Johan Santana "Los Mets" beer koozie 6. Jose Reyes "Los Mets" beer koozie 7. Mets rally towel sponsored by Bermuda Tourisim 8. Blue/black replica Mets batting helmet 9. Blue/orange Titanium Sports necklace 10. Mini pocket fan, with Mets and final season at Shea logo 11. Adjustable blue hat with Citi Field logo on front, Mets logo on back 12. Tan Mets Hall of Fame hat

Oakland sits atop the AL West standings, 47-29 (best record in the majors) and is 5 games ahead of Los Angeles. Oakland won the division each of the last two years before being eliminated in the division round in 5 games by the Tigers. This could be their year, though. This will be Oakland's first visit to a National League park this year. The Mets will be visiting the Athletics in August, their first trip to Oakland since 2005. Mets are 6-3 all-time against Oakland. (9-7 if postseason is included). Pitching Matchups: The Mets will fortunately miss Oakland ace Sonny Gray (7-3, 2.91 ERA, 1.18 WHIP). Tuesday, June 24: Scott Kazmir (L) v. Bartolo Colon Kazmir flamed out with the Angels a few years back and spent 2012 pitching in the independent Atlantic League with the Sugar Land Skeeters. He signed with Cleveland for 2013, made the team out of spring training, and had a serviceable season, with 29 starts and a 4.04 ERA. Got a 2 year deal with Oakland this offseason. He's 9-2, with a 2.08 ERA. He's leading the American League with a 0.947 WHIP and has a 4.0 strikeout/walk ratio. You may recall Kazmir striking out 12 against the Mets in an early September game last year in Cleveland. He has never pitched at Citi Field or Shea, so all of those "Kazmir returns to Queens" stories are of course inaccurate. Wednesday, June 25: Brad Mills (L) v. Zack Wheeler Mills was acquired from the Brewers on June 17 for $1.00. Yes, that is not a typo. The deal (officially for "cash considerations") was due to an opt-out clause with in his minor league contract with the Brewers getting no compensation if Mills made another team's 25-man roster. He had a 1.56 ERA in the PCL before being called up. This is his second start; he went 4 innings last time out. He replaces Drew Pomeranz in the rotation, who broke his right (non-pitching) hand punching a char in frustration after a bad outing. Athletics Lineup: C - Derrick Norris ® Having a breakout year at age 25. .302/.405/.509 1B - Brandon Moss (L) .261/.353/.521 with 17 homers. Moss was originally drafted by Boston and was traded away with Manny Ramirez. He bounced around the Pittsburgh and Philly systems before catching on with the Athletics in 2012 and he's hit 68 homers from 2012-present for them. 2B - Eric Sogard (L) Sogard was the runner-up to David Wright in the "Face of MLB" contest this past offseason. I have no idea why, as he can't hit. (.501 OPS). I also have no idea what that contest was about or why it mattered. (Here's guessing it doesn't/didn't). 3B - Josh Donaldson ® .252/.335/.480 with 18 homers. SS - Jed Lowrie (S) One of the few batters in this lineup not hitting much (.653 OPS) LF - Yoenis Cespedes ® .266/.318/.514 with 14 homers and 19 doubles, and an AL-leading nine outfield assists. You may recall the Angels learning the hard way that what Cespedes may lack for grace in fielding the ball, he can make up for with a cannon arm. CF - Coco Crisp (S) This is now Covelli Loyce Crisp's fifth season in Oakland. At age 34, some of the speed is going (led the AL in steals back in 2011) but he's still 13-for-15 stealing bases this year. .814 OPS but the lack of speed is hurting his defensive metrics. Probably won't match the 4.3 (career-high) WAR he had last year. RF - Stephen Vogt (L) / other Josh Reddick is on the DL. Vogt has been hot (.883 OPS) in 55 plate appearances. DH/Utility - Alberto Callaspo (S) Callaspo played at first base both Saturday and Sunday against the Red Sox so don't be surprised if he's playing there against the Mets, with Brandon Moss in the outfield. John Jaso (L) is the backup catcher/DH and also has 200 plate appearances on the year and a .817 OPS. Athletics Bullpen Sean Doolittle (L) is closing the games now: 10 saves and a 2.00 ERA (0.583 WHIP) in 36 innings. Luke Gregerson ® was acquired via trade in the offseason from San Diegoand is as tough as he was with the Padres. Dan Otero ® is the other key setup man. Former Orioles closer Jim Johnson ® started the year as Oakland's closer (on a 1 year, $10 million contract) but lost the job and owns a 5.58 ERA in 30 innings. Ex-Mets: No players Chip Hale is the bench coach A's GM Billy Beane of course was the Mets' first-round draft pick in 1980. Ex-Athletics: Bartolo Chris Young was in Oakland last year: 12-40-.200/.280/.379 Anthony Recker came up in the Oakland farm system and got 50 PAs in 2011-12 with them. Dana Eveland was in Oakland's rotation in 2008 and their bullpen in 2009.

I liked this stat: Gywnn had more career PAs against Greg Maddux than any other pitcher (107). He had a .415 average against Maddux, plus 11 walks. And no strikeouts.

Age 54.

Can't believe I forgot inside-the-park home run. Updated the list above with thanks to FK.

The obstruction call is a good one. Think I would dump "3 home runs in one game" for that. I was tempted to include something with pitching "game scores" (ie. Game score of >95) but I think it should be limited to more tangible things.

Was challenged (elsewhere) to come up with the [crossout]20[/crossout] 25 best "rarities" as a bingo-card sort of thing to see how many you've seen in person at a game. Looking for feedback. Any rare events that should be on the list but aren't? PITCHING RARITIES Four strikeouts in one half-inning No-hitter Perfect Game PITCHERS OUT OF POSITION Relief pitcher batting Pitcher pinch-hitting and getting hit Pitcher home run Pitcher playing positions PLAYERS OUT OF POSITION Position player pitching Emergency catcher 5-man infield or 4-man outfield HITTING RARITIES Cycle Steal of home (not failed suicide squeeze) Inside-the-park home run 5+ hits in nine-inning game Three home runs in one game (by one player) Four home runs in one game (by one player) FIELDING RARITIES 9-3 putout Triple play Unassisted triple play IDIOCY Passing runner on bases Batting out of turn Interference call on bases Accidentally (not overthrow) throwing live ball in stands INFRACTIONS Player caught with doctored bat/ball Benches-clearing brawl (actual punches, not just standing around and posturing)

Know your 2014 Cubs: Now that we shipped Houston off to the American League, the Cubs have inherited the title of worst team in the league. 20-34 this year, and in a cruel twist of fate, also the worst record in the majors, even worse than the Astros. This is the first year of Rick Renteria's managerial tenure. The Cubs are again in rebuilding mode, having last had a winning season in 2009 and last making the playoffs in 2008, back when Lou Pinella was still managing the team. Despite playing in Chicago, all games this week are evening games. 8:05 EDT starts on Tuesday and Wednesday; 7:05 PM EDT start on Thursday. Pitching Matchups: We conveniently miss ace Jeff Samardzija and their second-best starter, Jason Hammel. Tuesday: Jake Arrieta ® v. Wheeler Formerly of the Orioles and traded to the Cubs last year. In five starts this year, he's thrown 25 1/3 innings, with a 1.50 WHIP but a 3.20 ERA and 26 strikeouts. You may recall Arrietta giving up a grand slam to Ike Davis in 2012 at Citi Field, the last time the Mets faced him. Wednesday: Edwin Jackson ® v. Matsuzaka Jackson in 30 years old but somehow the Cubs are his eighth major league organization. He led the National League in losses last year with 18. 3-5, 4.81 ERA this year in 11 starts. Throws lots of innings and strikes out a lot of players but also just gives up too many hits to ever be really effective. Thursday: Travis Wood (L) v. deGrom No relation to Kerry. Had a really good year last year (3.11 ERA, 1.145 WHIP in 200 innings). Struggling now (5.15 ERA and 1.376 WHIP in 65 innings). Got knocked out in the third inninng last Friday against Milwaukee after two strong starts in a row prior. Lineup: Only one guy in this lineup has seen his thirtieth birthday. C Wellington Castillo ® 27 year old defensive catcher who doesn't hit much. Respectable .742 OPS last year; .672 so far this year. 1B Anthony Rizzo (L) Acquired from the Padres a few years back in a big trade and at age 24, developing into a good player. .742 OPS last year with 23 homers was ok, but he's already got 10 this year with an .864 OPS. 38 BBs to 40Ks. 2B Darwin Barney ® Value is all in the defense as he can't really hit (lifetime OPS, now in his fourth full season, is .621). 3B Mike Olt ® Key prospect from Texas in the Matt Garza trade. Had only 40 plate appearances in the majors before this year. Not hitting much (.162 average) but has 9 homers. SS Starlin Castro ® Also age 24, and signed through 2020. Led the National League in at-bats each of the past 3 seasons. After a couple of promising seasons in 2011 (3.0 WAR) and 2012 (3.4 WAR), he really regressed last year, with a .631 OPS and a WAR of -0.6. Hitting better this year so far. LF Junior Lake ® Had a decent (.760 OPS) half season with the Cubs last year before becoming s full-time starter this year. .718 OPS so far this year, with 6 homers. Good speed. CF Emilio Bonifacio (S) Cubs are Emilio's 6th major league team in his 8 years in the majors, having spent last year with Kansas City. Steals some bases, gets some hits, but no power. RF Nate Schierholtz (L) Oldest guy in the lineup; you probably remember him from the Giants. A good fourth outfielder but probably not a starter on most teams. .212-.270-.300 this year. Ex-Mets: None Ex-Cubs: [crossout:2bdlefx0]Kyle Farnsworth[/crossout:2bdlefx0] None

John Olerud. Ultimate Met-Tiger?

Edgy MD wrote: He's a defensive downgrade with almost no pop and modest OBP ability. If he's not starting, he's a pinch-runner. Holy shit! You make it sound as if Eric Young isn'tone of our best players! If only we could get this through the manager's thick head.

Getting real tired of Erc Young here. Also would have let DeGrom hit.

Game score of 87 for Tanaka. Think that's the highest score against the Mets I've had the misfortune of seeing since that May 2010 debacle against Halladay in Philadelphia. If I hear Gary Cohen say again about how the Mets need to have Eric Young in the lineup to win, I'm going to throw something at the television. In addition to the idiotic play on Roberts' should-have-been-a-harmless single, that was a really poor slide at second base in the 9th. Was neither a takeout slide nor a I'm-trying-to-beat-the-throw slide. In positive news, this game had the lowest Yankee douchebag fans factor that I've ever seen for a subway series game at Shea.

It's like they don't want to fight back. Really poor

I'd pinch hit Lagares here in the third to make a point.

Eric Young, you are an idiot

seawolf17 wrote: Collin McHugh was a Met? Isn't he the guy we traded to get Eric Young Jr.?