Gwreck

Not much to add from what was already discussed. Missed the Milledge HBP as I had to duck out after the 7th inning stretch to ensure that I made my flight. One thing that I found somewhat disturbing was some seriously bad plate discipline from Reyes and LoDuca. Yeah, it was a hot day in the sun but I got the distinct feeling that excepting perhaps Reyes' first PA that there was a lack of effort from both of them. Al Jackson was conducting pitchers fielding practice this morning with most of the starters (I saw Perez, Glavine, Maine, Schoenweis, and Sele) but not Pelfrey (who screwed up on covering first early in the game). Juan Padilla: White Hummer H4.

Report from the "other game": Mets brought their B squad to Jupiter vs. the Marlins: Milledge RF Newhan 3B Johnson CF Castro C Carp 1B Chip Ambres LF Gotay 2B A Hernandez SS Maine P 1. It's a small sample size, but I don't think we *ever* want to see David Newhan playing at third base. He didn't look good again (started yesterday) there, even after extra fielding practice this morning. 2. Maine got hit pretty hard -- and the Marlins had only two* regulars in the lineup (Hanley Ramirez and Miguel Cabrera). 5.2 IP, 12H, 1 BB, 5K, 4 ER -- not pretty. *Aaron Boone was 3-4 with 3 RBI -- I don't know if he's competing with Jacobs for the first base spot or has maybe already won the job. 3. Ben Johnson is pretty fast. It wasn't just hustle-to-win-a-job -- which he did, very well, beating it down the line hard even on a routine ground ball -- but looked good stealing a base too. 4. Two outfield assists for Chip Ambres, including an impressive throw to the plate to nail the trail runner (from 2nd) on a single. 5. Milledge was 2-3 but got nailed in the side by a nasty Felix Rodriguez (a setup man for the Marlins this year, probably) pitch. Lastings also had an unfortunate GIDP to end the game. 6. Matt Lindstrom, now with the Marlins, had huge control problems and nearly blew the game for the Marlins, walking the first two batters in the top of the 9th with a two-run lead. 7. David Newhan is too much of a free swinger. Somebody needs to tell him to take some damn pitches. Final: Marlins 6, Mets 5. Bonus: Adding to our list from yesterday: Chan Ho Park -- Silver Dodge Durango.

The good: Easley's redemption with the RBI single. Solid pitching all around. The bad: Moises Alou looked lost at the plate several times. The ugly: John Rodriguez' throw from left field on the sac fly that allowed Sandy Alomar to score. Ruben Gotay getting thrown out at third to make the last out of an inning, stretching a stand-up double into a triple. Nobody covering third when El Duque was bunting, which is what allowed Alomar to make it to third (Eckstein had to run over to cover). Cardinals fans. They couldn't even take the expected heckling (Hey, Tony, when's happy hour?) etc. Quick-n-dirty report from Port St. Lucie: The town itself is better than the rap it gets. Nothing special, but not quite the hole I was preparing for. Watching workouts is funny, especially when it's clear who just rolled out of bed right into practice and who's actually playing that day. LoDuca addressed everybody briefly before they started streching/doing drills, but then proceeded to do basically nothing the rest of the time (barely stretching, barely trotting in the "sprints" etc.) Delgado was out at 9:30 AM taking practice at first -- grounders, and short-hop throws from third and the hole -- but word was that he left camp at 11 to fly home for the impending birth of his first child. Maybe we could start a "vehicle watch" to accompany "wifey watch"... Shawn Green = brand new black Lexus LS 400. Unnknown player, due to tinted windows = huge blue Ford F250 Crew Cab with wheels that looked to be at least 25" if not more.

Can I recommend that the standard voting period be one week after the game ends? I think it could help increase participation. Aside from slightly longer waits to know who the "player of the month" was, I sense this would be feasible, so long as it was the policy from the beginning of the year on.

I don't think Julio's second half made me exactly sure he can be counted on for that, either.

Hearing this, along with that story from months ago about how Wright was available to the Blue Jays in a trade in 2002 or so makes me think that there are likely plently of examples from plenty of teams of this sort of thing happening.

Jeromy Burnitz retiring. Burnitz retires at 37 with 315 career home runs By Jerry Crasnick ESPN.com Jeromy Burnitz, who hit 315 home runs in a 14-year career with the New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers and five other clubs, has decided to retire, his agent said. Burnitz, 37, hit a disappointing .230 with 16 home runs in 313 at-bats for the Pittsburgh Pirates in his final season. He became a free agent in November when the Pirates declined a $6 million option for 2007 and paid him a $700,000 buyout. Agent Howard Simon said Burnitz had contemplated retirement for the past two or three seasons, only to return to play each time. Burnitz did not receive any offers this offseason. "When it came down to it [in past seasons], he wasn't quite ready to do it," Simon said. "I thought the same thing might happen this time around, but he's made up his mind to call it quits for sure." Burnitz broke into professional ball as the Mets' first-round draft pick in 1990. His best career stretch came with Milwaukee from 1998 through 2001, when he averaged 34 homers and 106 RBI for the Brewers. He made the National League All-Star team in 1999. Burnitz played on a College World Series team with Oklahoma State in 1990, but appeared in 1,694 major league games without a playoff appearance. It was the longest-running postseason futility streak among active players. Burnitz, Phil Nevin, Brian Jordan and Eric Young are among several aging position players who either failed to receive offers from big league clubs this offseason or declined to pursue lesser opportunities. Steve Finley, 41, waited until Feb. 24 to sign a minor league deal with the Colorado Rockies. Jerry Crasnick covers Major League Baseball for ESPN Insider.

I love 'em both. I worry that Jose will leave someday. I don't think David ever will. On that basis alone I took Wright.

KC wrote: I don't like white people, I voted for Reyes. Because, as we all know, if Omar had his way, we'd have 23 Hispanic Players plus Wright and Wagner.

F is fine on both levels. You'll be slightly under the overhang on Mezz, and maybe 1/4 up under the overhang on the Loge. Officially, the obstructed views are Loge rows K and L, Mezz rows N, O, P. That being said, I'd think twice about sitting in Loge J or Mezz M.

You, me, and everybody else. Stubhub and eBay have literally hundreds of tickets in Rows K and L of the Loge and N, O and P of the Mezzanine. The fucking Mets totally invited the amateur scalpers to have a field day with this, with their ridiculous "you can buy 6 tickets per game" email lottery. No, I'm not paying you $130 for obstructed view. They can all rot in fucking hell.

Elvis Cruz is the relative, not Pedro E.

Frayed Knot wrote: But he was decent at it and was a whole lot more coherant back when he was younger prior to his illnesses (perhaps you're too young to remember?). Well, I don't remember '62 or anything but I do remember Kiner's Korner on WOR Channel 9 and watching it for many years. Your answer was about what I expected -- he's being honored for doing it for a crapload of years more than for being great. (Or do we have dissenters? I'm genuinely curious).

(Serious question) Maybe it's that for so many years I listened to games on WFAN far more than I watched them on TV -- but I never "got" why Ralph Kiner was great. I know he's been a Mets broadcaster since '62. I never found anything about his broadcasting to be remarkable or outstanding. I know he has many fans here. Can someone explain to me what I'm (apparently) missing?

11) On base percentage delgado 12) Slugging percentage delgado 13) OPS wright Ummm...I don't think this can be done...

1) Games - Reyes 2) Hits - Reyes 3) Doubles - Wright 4) Triples - Reyes 5) Home runs - Delgado 6) RBI - Beltran 7) Stolen Bases - Reyes 8) Caught stealing - Reyes 9) Runs scored - Reyes 10) Batting average - Wright 11) On base percentage - Beltran 12) Slugging percentage - Delgado 13) OPS - Beltran 14) Strikeouts (most by a batter) - Delgado 15) Walks (most by a batter) - Beltran 16) Wins - Glavine 17) Losses - Park 18) Strikeouts - Perez 19) Walks - Perez 20) ERA (low) - Maine 21) ERA (high) - Park 22) Saves - Wagner 23) BAA (low) - O. Hernandez 24) BAA (high) - Park 25) Games started - Glavine 26) Games pitched - Heilman 27) Innings Pitched - Maine Player-Specific Predictions 28) Jose Reyes: OBP - .380 29) Jose Reyes: SB - 65 30) Paul LoDuca: BA - .305 31) Paul LoDuca: Games - 135 32) Carlos Beltran: HR - 37 33) Carlos Beltran: SB - 20 34) Carlos Delgado: HR - 42 35) Carlos Delgado: K - 125 36) David Wright: RBI - 109 37) David Wright: OPS - .965 38) Moises Alou: Games - 120 39) Moises Alou: BA - .312 40) Shawn Green: Games - 100 41) Shawn Green: HR - 18 42) Jose Valentin: K - 90 43) Jose Valentin: BA - .265 44) Endy Chavez: Games - 110 45) Endy Chavez: OBP - .345 46) Julio Franco: BA - .260 47) Tom Glavine: IP - 195 48) Tom Glavine: W - 18 49) Orlando Hernandez: Games Started - 28 50) Orlando Hernandez: ERA - 4.20 51) Oliver Perez: K - 190 52) Oliver Perez: ERA - 4.13 53) John Maine: W - 15 54) John Maine: ERA - 3.25 55) Billy Wagner: Saves - 37 56) Aaron Heilman: ERA - 3.23 57) Duaner Sanchez: IP - 50 58) Scott Schoenweis: ERA - 2.41 59) Chan Ho Park: Games Started - 15 60) Mike Pelfrey: IP - 60 61) Phillip Humber: IP - 40 62) Pedro Martinez: Games Started - 0 Name the top five Mets pitchers in Games Started in 2007. 63) Glavine 64) Maine 65) Perez 66) Hernandez 67) Park Team Categories 68)Total runs scored - 800 69)Total runs against - 700 70)Team ERA - 4.01 71)Team batting average - .270 72)Record - 95-67 73)NL East Finish - 1st 74)Games behind NL East Winner +5 over Phillies 75)Playoffs - Division Winner 76)Playoff finish - Win WS

Julio rocks it Olerud-style:

Link, from the NY TImes By JEFF VANDAM Published: February 25, 2007 Among the scores of waxen figures draped over couches, standing at attention or, in the case of Britney Spears, climbing poles within Madame Tussauds New York on West 42nd Street, the New York Yankees have four. Derek Jeter stares fiercely from a batter�s box as George Steinbrenner, smiling in a blazer and turtleneck, looks on; on another floor, Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio strike classic poses. (Mickey Mantle is being repaired; his head popped off when some youngsters knocked him over.) Yet nowhere among the 204 figures at the museum, which opened in 2000, is there a single New York Met. For years, visitors have been offering complaints and suggestions to museum staff, and now, it seems, a Met will finally arrive, with an unveiling scheduled for April 2, a month after the start of spring training exhibition games this week. The possibility that a wax Met would be installed at the museum was reported in Crain�s New York Business. As for who the lucky Met will be, the museum is mum. �What I can share with you is that there�s a figure in production right now,� said Stacy Shuster, director of sales and marketing. Until now, she added, no Met has been included among the wax figures because there has not been a clear favorite among the players proposed. And as for the lucky player slated to be immortalized in wax? �It will,� Ms. Shuster said, �be a current Met.� Beyond that morsel, she would say only that the Met in question is not bald, a detail that categorically rules out both Mr. Met, who has a baseball for a head, and Carlos Delgado, the slugging first baseman, who also sports a shorn look. The wax museum does not keep figures on how many people requested a Met, but Ms. Shuster characterized the number of responses as �loads.� Whomever the statue will represent, it will cost $150,000 to produce and is currently under construction in London, home of the original Tussauds. Early last week, a few Mets fans who were leaving the Mets Clubhouse store on West 42nd Street, just a couple of blocks from the museum, offered their thoughts on which player the museum might choose. �Everybody�s going to say David Wright,� said Shawn Lee, a teacher who lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Mr. Wright, of course, is the Mets� star third baseman, a handsome 24-year-old Virginian who is the subject of pink �Looking for Mr. Wright� T-shirts available at Shea Stadium. Given his druthers, however, Mr. Lee would prefer to see the fast-footed shortstop Jos� Reyes sculptured in wax. Ed Hughes, who works in publishing and was also browsing the Mets� store, predicted that Carlos Beltr�n, the hard-hitting center fielder, would be chosen. �Beltr�n has hair,� Mr. Hughes said after being told that hair was apparently a prerequisite for whatever player would be chosen. �I think they�ll choose Beltr�n.�

We gotta get the chart going again. Karen Newhan, second from left:

I see Carlos, D. Wright, Endy and Anderson Hernnandez, but who's that on the far left?

Hey Brett, know who I hate? People who hit their spouse. --- Link Brett Myers: �I hate the Mets� Dennis Deitch, Journal Register News Service 02/23/2007 First, it was Jimmy Rollins vs. David Wright. Now, players from both the Phillies and Mets� dugouts are spilling into print with venom aimed at the other team. Rollins initiated the war of words when last month he said the Phillies were "the team to beat -- finally" in the National League East. Wright responded with a harsh response on a New York radio station. Rollins countered Tuesday by reiterating his assessment and saying that he�s "stating a fact." In the New York papers Thursday, Wright and several other Mets returned the volley. Tom Glavine said that Rollins� statement is "an opinion" and that the Phillies� offseason "looks good ..but it doesn�t equate to anything, while Wright said that, "talk is very, very cheap." One guy who didn�t need a lot of coaxing to take Rollins� back was Brett Myers. The outspoken right-hander said he "hates the Mets," and that he agrees with his teammate�s appraisal of the teams. "I think they�re good," said Myers, who went 1-1 with a 5.09 ERA in three starts against the Mets last season, "but I don�t think that one through five (in the starting rotation) they can match up with us." Shifting between serious and joking comments, Myers boasted, "wait until we get a 20-game lead and then they have to catch us." When it was brought to Myers� attention that the Phils are in New York for the Mets� first home series of the season and that Rollins and the team could be in for an extra helping of boos due to the verbal sparring, he said that he likes pitching in hostile territory. Myers also urged Philadelphia fans to give it back to the Mets at Citizens Bank Park and to make sure Mets fans weren�t infiltrating the Phils� home. "We can�t sell tickets to Mets fans anymore," said Myers. "I don�t want them in our place. "They�re our rivals. I want to beat them more than anybody." Not all the Phillies were as blunt as Myers. Chase Utley tried to keep it diplomatic. "The whole goal is to come out of spring training ready to win," Utley said. "We want to take the mentality that we built on last year. We need confidence to be successful." As for Charlie Manuel, unlike many managers and coaches he doesn�t mind his players offering some bulletin-board material. "It�s OK," Manuel said. "As long as we back up what we talk about, it�s fine. There�s nothing wrong with some cockiness and swagger, but we have to deliver. "I know our guys want to play and what they�re going to put into it. If (the Mets) get high, then we need to get higher, that�s all."

I'm convinced that the Mets ticket office is run by a bunch of morons. Sure, even if we're already planholders, they don't really have to give us (instead of a lottery open to all) opening day pre-sale rights (even if it's the right thing to do). Sure, they could limit the tickets in the lottery to 2 or 4, but why do that? It'd be the right thing to do. But what really gets me is that they insist that the only way to get opening day tickets is to buy a seven-pack. And I'd love to give them money, too -- if they hadn't made buying seven-packs in addition to ticket plans completely pointless. Every seven-pack contains some sort of duplication with the existing ticket plans -- so you'd have to buy additional tickets...to games you already have tickets for. Idiots.

Is the list (updated with 2005 and 2006) available?

While aware of the criteria for this ... it's still interesting that there's no 2008 slot for Humber. I wonder if perhaps he'll have Pedro's slot, with Pedro in the 'pen...