Gwreck

I was under the general impression that the NYPD (and the Chicago PD, I assume) was strongly in favor of having only one of the two teams playing at home at the same time. I think the teams just like it that way, too. Usually Oakland/SF and LA/LA are not home at the same time either.

New York Mets Jose Reyes SS Luis Castillo 2B David Wright 3B Carlos Beltran CF Carlos Delgado 1B Angel Pagan LF Ryan Church RF Brian Schneider C Johan Santana P Florida Marlins Hanley Ramirez SS Dan Uggla 2B Mike Jacobs 1B Josh Willingham LF Cody Ross CF Jorge Cantu 3B Luis Gonzalez RF Matt Treanor C Mark Hendrickson P

You sure cursed that one real fast. Billy Butler singles to left for KC's first hit of 2008.

Desperate times (the stadium is already $500 million overbudget, with a year to go on construction) call for desperate measures, I guess.

AG/DC wrote: I still think it should sort first in the order their appearances become official. If Pagan bats, he's first. If we go on defense before he bats, it's Santana, Schneider, Pagan, Church. That was my thought as well.

#822 - Johan Santana #823 - Brian Schneider #824 - Angel Pagan (order might be reversed if we bat around in the first inning).

Willie Randolph is present and accounted for -- he just sent me this email: Willie Randolph wrote: Our team is ready to go. That's the message I want to send to you Mets fans as we prepare for today's opener in South Florida. The goal this year is to make our final season at Shea something special and I think we can. We've had a great spring. Our batting order certainly can produce runs. Jose Reyes has been spectacular in the field and on the bases. Carlos Beltran has recovered from his off-season knee surgeries and has been diving for balls in the outfield, while Luis Castillo is back to normal after his knee operation. I look for David Wright to once again play at his All-Star pace and we expect Carlos Delgado to have a bounce-back year. Brian Schneider adds a good defensive presence for us behind the plate, while I look for Ryan Church to play a solid rightfield. Our line-up is intact except for Moses Alou, who should be back in late April or early May. Guys like Endy Chavez, Damion Easley and Angel Pagan can fill in for Moises until he returns. You need to have a solid bench to win and we certainly do. Our pitching has been great all spring. The addition of Johan Santana makes our staff better from top to bottom. Pedro Martinez is healthy and hasn't missed a beat, while John Maine and Oliver Perez, who each won 15 games for us a year ago, are perhaps two of the young star pitchers in the major leagues. The bullpen will once again be anchored by Billy Wagner, one of the best closers in the game. Aaron Heilman, Pedro Feliciano, Scott Schoeneweis, Matt Wise and Jorge Sosa all can perform in a variety of roles for us. Orlando Hernandez, Duaner Sanchez and Ramon Castro will start the season on the Disabled List, but should be ready to go not too far into the season. With Orlando Hernandez on the Disabled List, Mike Pelfrey will pitch this Saturday against Atlanta. He deserves the chance. In closing I want to say one more thing. We all hated the way last year ended for us. For 98 percent of the season we were the best team in our division, but we let it slip away. When I spoke to the team this spring I didn't look backwards that much, I tried to look forward so we can all learn from what happened. The lesson is simple: don't take anything for granted and don't expect things to happen just because you think they will. The season is here. It's time to make it happen. Hope to see you back at Shea in April. Wille Randolph

Present but I will have to check out at 4:10. Just got back after a coupla days off and work will be brutal today. Taping the game to watch when I get home and I wanna watch unspoiled.

I think we need to remember the greater good when voting. Write-in choices are nice, but what if there are too many, splitting the vote, and Sweet Caroline winds up winning?

Nothing less than a sweep...

I just got back from a weekend trip to Seattle. I taped it (haven't watched yet) and can probably get you a copy -- will look into it.

Gotta get mine in... Team Leaders Batting 1) Games - Wright 2) Hits - Wright 3) Doubles - Wright 4) Triples - Reyes 5) Home runs - Beltran 6) RBI - Beltran 7) Stolen Bases - Reyes 8) Caught stealing - Reyes 9) Runs scored - Reyes 10) Batting average - Wright 11) On base percentage - Wright 12) Slugging percentage - Beltran 13) OPS - Wright 14) Strikeouts - Delgado 15) Walks - Beltran 16) Pinch-Hits - Anderson Pitching 16) Wins - Santana 17) Losses - Pelfrey 18) Strikeouts - Santana 19) Walks - Perez 20) ERA (starter - low) - Santana 21) ERA (starter - high) - Pelfrey 22) ERA (reliever - low - min. 50 IP) - Wagner 23) ERA (reliever - high - min. 50 IP) - Sosa 24) Saves - Wagner 25) BAA (low) - Martinez 26) BAA (high) - Pelfrey 27) Games started - Santana 28) Games pitched - Heilman 29) Innings Pitched - Santana Player-Specific Predictions Predict the player's specific stats in the category selected. Two points if someone guesses the number exactly. If no one gets the exact number, one point will go to the people who are the closest to the actual result, either over or under. 28) Jose Reyes: OBP - .355 29) Jose Reyes: SB - 63 30) Jose Reyes: Extra-Base Hits - 65 31) Jose Reyes: Rank in League MVP Voting - 8 32) Luis Castillo: OBP - .330 33) Luis Castillo: SB - 18 34) Carlos Beltran: HR - 38 35) Carlos Beltran: SB - 22 36) Carlos Beltran: RBI - 109 37) Carlos Beltran: Rank in League MVP Voting - 4 38) David Wright: HR - 32 39) David Wright: RBI - 108 40) David Wright: Walks - 90 41) David Wright: SB - 33 42) David Wright: Rank in League MVP Voting - 1 43) Carlos Delgado: HR - 29 44) Carlos Delgado: RBI - 98 45) Carlos Delgado: K - 103 46) Carlos Delgado: Games Played - 130 47) Moises Alou: At-Bats - 409 48) Moises Alou: RBI - 79 48) Endy Chavez: At-Bats - 215 49) Angel Pagan: At-Bats - 135 50) Ryan Church: OPS - .875 51) Ryan Church: HR - 22 52) Ryan Church: Games Played - 113 53) Brian Schneider: OPS - .735 54) Brian Schneider: Caught Stealing % - 36 55) Ramon Castro: Games Played - 45 56) Marlon Anderson: OBP - .340 57) Damion Easley: RBI - 34 58) Johan Santana: W - 23 59) Johan Santana: K - 257 60) Johan Santana: ERA - 2.81 61) Johan Santana: Rank in Cy Young Voting - 1 61) Johan Santana: Rank in League MVP Voting - 6 62) Pedro Martinez: IP - 165 63) Pedro Martinez: W - 15 64) Pedro Martinez: K - 195 64) John Maine: W - 19 65) John Maine: ERA - 3.34 66) Oliver Perez: W - 16 67) Oliver Perez: K - 224 68) Oliver Perez: BB - 91 69) Orlando Hernandez: Games Started - 8 70) Orlando Herandez: IP - 55 71) Mike Pelfrey: Games Started - 20 72) Mike Pelfrey: ERA - 4.97 73) Billy Wagner: Saves - 42 74) Aaron Heilman: ERA - 3.03 75) Duaner Sanchez: IP - 50 76) Duaner Sanchez: ERA -3.97 77) Pedro Feliciano: ERA - 2.76 78) Scott Schoeneweis: ERA - 4.03 79) Jorge Sosa: IP - 50 Name the top five Mets pitchers in Games Started in 2007. One point for each one named correctly. A bonus of five points for getting all five correct 80) Santana 81) Maine 82) Perez 83) Martinez 84) Pelfrey Team Categories 84)Team ERA 3.51 85)Team batting average - .275 86)Record 99-63 87)NL East Finish (1st, 2nd, etc.) 1st 88)Games behind NL East Winner 7 games ahead 89)Playoffs (Division winner, Wildcard winner, no playoffs) Win Divisoin 90)Playoff finish - (Win WS, Lose WS, Lose NLCS, Lose NLDS, no playoffs) Win WS Tie-breakers 1st tie breaker - pick the NL Central Division Champion - Milwaukee 2nd tie breaker - pick then American League Champion - Detroit

Edit: Redundant.

So are you predicting that Maine wins the Cy Young award ahead of Santana (or does he get snubbed)? Bumping this one back up, one week to get your picks in.

Only unanimous pick was the "over" for Milwaukee.

In addition to your regularly scheduled preseason games at 1:00 on SNY (Tuesday v. ATL, Wednesday vs. FLA) this week the baseball TV schedule is: -Thursday's game at Atlanta is an ESPN national telecast (1:00); -Saturday's game -- the final preseason game -- is the "Civil Rights Game." ESPN National telecast, 5:00 PM -"The Amazing Shea" - Sue Simmons hosts a look at the amazing history of the stadium. 7:30 PM on WNBC4. -CW11 has a "2008 Mets: Built to Win" preview at 7:30 PM on Saturday; -ESPN Classic on Sunday is showing 1-hour compressed versions of the following games: 3:00 PM: Mets at MFYs, July 8, 2000; 6:00 PM: 1999 NLCS Game 5 -The first two regular season games (BOS v. OAK in Tokyo) are 6:00 AM starts on ESPN2 on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings; -The first "normal" regular season game is Sunday at 8:00 PM (ATL v. WAS).

Surprise special guest odds: Ron Darling 3-1 Keith Hernandez 5-1 Gary Cohen 7-1 Ralph Kiner 25-1 Davey Johnson 50-1 Charlie Samuels 75-1 Bobby V. 100-1 Omar 100-1 Jeff Wilpon 100-1

NL East New York Atlanta Philadelphia Washington Florida NL Central Milwaukee Chicago (WC) Cincinatti St. Louis Houston Pittsburgh NL West Arizona San Diego Colorado Los Angeles San Francisco AL East Boston New York Toronto Tampa Bay Baltimore AL Central Detroit Cleveland (WC) Chicago Minnesota Kansas City AL West Seattle Los Angeles Texas Oakland New York over Chicago Arizona over Milwaukee New York over Arizona Detroit over Seattle Boston over Cleveland Detroit over Boston New York over Detroit (6 games)

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Put a deadline on entries/edits just to be fair. Whaddya think, make the deadline 11:59 PM EDT on Sunday, March 30? Or does it need to be sooner than then?

With two weeks to opening day, it's now time to open up the 2008 CPF Prediction Contest. Winners get the usual complement of valuable prizes. Using some ideas from years past, here we go: Team Leaders Name the Met who will lead the team in each category. Only stats earned while a member of the Mets count. Minimum: 400 PA, or 120 IP as a Met needed for rate categories (BA, ERA, etc. unless otherwise specified). One point for each correct prediction. Batting 1) Games 2) Hits 3) Doubles 4) Triples 5) Home runs 6) RBI 7) Stolen Bases 8) Caught stealing 9) Runs scored 10) Batting average 11) On base percentage 12) Slugging percentage 13) OPS 14) Strikeouts 15) Walks 16) Pinch-Hits Pitching 16) Wins 17) Losses 18) Strikeouts 19) Walks 20) ERA (starter - low) 21) ERA (starter - high) 22) ERA (reliever - low - min. 50 IP) 23) ERA (reliever - high - min. 50 IP) 24) Saves 25) BAA (low) 26) BAA (high) 27) Games started 28) Games pitched 29) Innings Pitched Player-Specific Predictions Predict the player's specific stats in the category selected. Two points if someone guesses the number exactly. If no one gets the exact number, one point will go to the people who are the closest to the actual result, either over or under. 28) Jose Reyes: OBP 29) Jose Reyes: SB 30) Jose Reyes: Extra-Base Hits 31) Jose Reyes: Rank in League MVP Voting 32) Luis Castillo: OBP 33) Luis Castillo: SB 34) Carlos Beltran: HR 35) Carlos Beltran: SB 36) Carlos Beltran: RBI 37) Carlos Beltran: Rank in League MVP Voting 38) David Wright: HR 39) David Wright: RBI 40) David Wright: Walks 41) David Wright: SB 42) David Wright: Rank in League MVP Voting 43) Carlos Delgado: HR 44) Carlos Delgado: RBI 45) Carlos Delgado: K 46) Carlos Delgado: Games Played 47) Moises Alou: At-Bats 48) Moises Alou: RBI 48) Endy Chavez: At-Bats 49) Angel Pagan: At-Bats 50) Ryan Church: OPS 51) Ryan Church: HR 52) Ryan Church: Games Played 53) Brian Schneider: OPS 54) Brian Schneider: Caught Stealing % 55) Ramon Castro: Games Played 56) Marlon Anderson: OBP 57) Damion Easley: RBI 58) Johan Santana: W 59) Johan Santana: K 60) Johan Santana: ERA 61) Johan Santana: Rank in Cy Young Voting 61) Johan Santana: Rank in League MVP Voting 62) Pedro Martinez: IP 63) Pedro Martinez: W 64) Pedro Martinez: K 64) John Maine: W 65) John Maine: ERA 66) Oliver Perez: W 67) Oliver Perez: K 68) Oliver Perez: BB 69) Orlando Hernandez: Games Started 70) Orlando Herandez: IP 71) Mike Pelfrey: Games Started 72) Mike Pelfrey: ERA 73) Billy Wagner: Saves 74) Aaron Heilman: ERA 75) Duaner Sanchez: IP 76) Duaner Sanchez: ERA 77) Pedro Feliciano: ERA 78) Scott Schoeneweis: ERA 79) Jorge Sosa: IP Name the top five Mets pitchers in Games Started in 2007. One point for each one named correctly. A bonus of five points for getting all five correct 80) 81) 82) 83) 84) Team Categories 84)Team ERA 85)Team batting average 86)Record 87)NL East Finish (1st, 2nd, etc.) 88)Games behind NL East Winner 89)Playoffs (Division winner, Wildcard winner, no playoffs) 90)Playoff finish - (Win WS, Lose WS, Lose NLCS, Lose NLDS, no playoffs Tie-breakers 1st tie breaker - pick the NL Central Division Champion 2nd tie breaker - pick then American League Champion

NYM - 93.5 Over ATL - 84.5 Over MILW - 84.5 - Over StL - 78.5 Under HOUS - 72.5 Under LAD - 87.5 Under ARIZ - 86.5 Over SD - 84.5 Under

The winners of the door prizes should post photos of them. --- Was nice to see/meet everyone. Hope to see you all again at the May tailgate/game.

Reyes, Wright and Santana are all "on pace" but way too early to tell as everyone else has said. Beltran I think needs to have a few big years -- and MVP season, etc., to get him on track. If he repeated his first 8 years over the next 8 years, I don't think that's a good enough pace. Delgado is the interesting one. I think he'll need at least another 100 home runs, but if the hall voters insist on keeping McGwire out -- and we can of course presume they'll do the same for Palmeiro -- and who knows who else, then he has a shot, what with the 500+ homeruns usually guaranteeing induction.

2013, not bad. Start saving for those tickets now. Other new stadiums that have not yet had a game: Citizens Bank Park Petco Great American Ballpark Nationals Ballpark

Good lord. The only acceptable choice on that list is "Dancing in the Street" for a victory. But they already use it (quite appropriately) in Detroit. Maybe there's something Washington-related they could possibly use?