Gwreck

SteveJRogers wrote: Kind of strange that our only trip to Chicago in the past few years is right in the middle of Chicago. Kind of had hoped to go out there right around mid-May, weather is just starting to get warm, and I kind of like seeing the ivy as it's starting to sprout out. Not sure what you mean about "last few years" -- the Mets were in Chicago in May in '05. I recall because U2, Springsteen, and the Mets were all playing in Chicago the same week (it was very busy). I see they've got the Milwaukee and Chicago series back to back again. If you can swing both, Miller is a very nice (and cheaper) place to take in a game.

Yes, that's the tradeoff for having one fewer interleague series.

...which I suppose is not exactly a shocker. Fortunately, they're not up too much. In their attempt to further complicate things as much as possible, they now have 6 different price levels for seats, which have five different prices, depending on whether the Mets are rating the game "Platinum" "Gold" "Silver" "Bronze" or "Value." Platinum Games: - 4 Opening Day Yankees Gold Games: - 19 Oakland St. Louis all Fri/Sat/Sun games in July/August. Silver Games: - 22 Arizona (1st weekend in June) Minnesota all midweek July/August series Houston (Sat/Sun September) Philly (weekend September) Last day of the season vs. Florida. Bronze Games: - 24 Washington (Sat/Sun April) Atlanta (April weekend) Milwaukee (weekend May) Cubs (Midweek May) Giants (Midweek May) Philadelphia (Midweek June) Houston (Friday in September) Atlanta (Midweek September) Flordia (Fri/Sat, last series of season) Value Games: - 12 Philly (2nd and 3rd home games of year) Washington (first Fri night game in April) Colorado (midweek April) Florida (midweek Apr/May) Washington (midweek September) The price levels are: P / G / S / B / V: Inner Loge Box: 82 / 72 / 67 / 62 / 52 Inner Field Box: 77 / 67 / 62 / 57 / 47 Outer Field / Loge Box, Mezz Box: 54/ 48 / 45 / 42 / 36 Loge Reserved: 48 / 42 / 39 / 36 / 30 Mezz Reserved, Upper Box: 35 / 31 / 29 / 27 / 21 Upper Reserved: 25 / 20 / 17 / 9 / 5

Too tough to do everything. Fav baseball moment of 2006: Limiting to the games I attended, the Endy catch is an obvious choice but I am still partial to the Beltran walk-off against the Cardinals, 8/22. Best new place visited in 2006: Pittsburgh. I'd driven through/stayed the night but never really saw the city before. It's not too bad. Runner-up: Minneapolis. I'd technically been before, but most of my time was spent in St. Paul. I have the suspiscion that the unseasonably warm weather I experienced while there in March raised my impression of the city higher than it might deserve. I did get to see the Mall of America for the first time, however. (Not half what it's cracked up to be). Worst new place visited in 2006: Dubuque, Iowa. I have this rule -- that if a place in the US isn't directly accessible from an interstate, or it has clear value otherwise (ex. - Grand Canyon) it's not worth the hassle of getting there.* Dubuque isn't the largest city not directly located on an interstate -- (Trivia question: which city is?) but it's probably close. And yet I wound up going there this past January. Whoops. Seemed like a real sad, dilapidated place. New Ballparks Visited in 2006: Safeco Field, Seattle; PNC Park, Pittsburgh. I wrote about PNC in September, but it's worth repeating that the park is all it's cracked up to be. GREAT place to see a game. Safeco can't quite measure by comparison but I had a great time there, certainly aided by a charter-seat-holding friend getting us in the first row behind first base. Seriously, the very first row. It's surreal. To balance it out, we sat in the bleachers the other time. The fanbase is a sharp contrast to the NY crowd but it's a very enjoyable stadium. I still can't quite get over the experience of seeing the field and watching what happens while standing on line for Garlic Fries. Least Fav Celebrity of 2006: Woulda expected to see Mel Gibson winning this one. Best musical performance of 2006: My favorite "less-well-known" band is Marah, described as Townes Van Zandt fronting The Faces, Bob Dylan leading AC/DC, Sly Stone fronting the Ramones, Bruce Springsteen fronting the Replacements and Nick Drake fronting the Dead Milkmen. (not my description, but it's true). Anyway, they did a show in Brooklyn this September that was one of my favorite concerts in quite a while. * SC = 50

G-Fafif wrote: Um, as for memories of Bannister... September against the Dodgers, mopup behind a mess of Trachsel's making. When he was announced into the game, no buzz of any sort. He was the feelgood story of five months earlier and now he was a September afterthought. Too bad. He and Jeremi/Geremi G. were the only two starters I didn't see in person. If anybody who wasn't a season-ticket holder collected all thirteen, that's quite a set. That wasn't his first appearance back though. He had started a game in August when Glavine was dealing the the finger issue. He remained on the roster for the rest of the year -- seeing action only two more times: the mopup you mentioned as well as pitching mopup after Pedro's last start.

Link. He'll be suspended the first 50 games of the year. May 27 at Florida is the return date.

Apples and oranges. Snow didn't hit that homer in an elimination game.

I thought declining him arbitration = de facto gone.

Sticking it out, day after day, as the only true power threat in the lineup. Playing hurt and not going on the DL until Piazza came back. The tangible and visible joy when playing next to his friend Mike Cameron in the outfield. His glorious 2005 season when -- finally healthy all season -- the numbers equaled potential. The big homer in his first postseason start. He'll leave with the Mets and their fans owing him a debt of gratitute fnot just for playing hard every day but als for -- I believe -- having a large role in shaping the future of this team by the nature of his friendship and mentoring of David Wright. One of my favorite Mets of all-time.

Rockin' Doc wrote: Gwreck - "I think that bat's going to be Green (when a lefty starts) and Chavez otherwise. That seems pretty capable." Since you have both Chavez and Green available for late pinch hitting duty when a lefty starts against the Mets, who do you expect to see starting in right field, Milledge? I doubt that there will be a Milledge/Green platoon unless Green really struggles and Milledge gets red hot. I doubt we'll see such a scenario on a regular basis. If Green is sitting against a lefty, it'd be either Chavez or Johnson starting. Therefore Green would be the lefty off the bench. If Green starts, then Chavez can be the lefty off the bench. I didn't factor Milledge into my analysis, and certainly not as a platoon player. I suspect Green will start against at least 35-50% of lefties.

="Edgy DC"]I think there's plenty that provides a ground for belief. That's evidence. Refusing to answer direct questions before Congress --- not rumor, speculation, or innuendo --- invites me to draw my own conclusions. Invites all of us. Why should we fear that? He didn't even take the fifth, but rather answered every question except the one that mattered. I respect your position -- but I think you are still confusing the issue. (Maybe this is me just spending 12 hours at the office today, but) Something that simply provides a ground for belief is not necessarily evidence. In the McGwire case, the suspicion you have that grounds your belief is not evidence. Why should we fear drawing our own conclusions? Because without a standard, the system's pointless. People can draw conclusions however they see fit. Some degree of uniformity is needed. Evidence should be required. The debate for Palmiero is far different than the debate for McGwire. ]Sorry about Ty Cobb. Sorry about Gay Perry. The rules explictly instruct voters to weight these issues when considering a player's career. Well, I guess they sure missed the boat on those two. In all seriousness -- and I do realize this is fundamentally another issue -- the instructions should be modified so that Hall voting is for the best Major League Baseball players. I don't think there's a problem honoring Cobb or Perry -- or McGwire. I think there's a fundamental contradiction for those who advocate not honoring McGwire while saying nothing about others.

Biggest loss so far from the 05 to the 06 Mets.

Edgy DC wrote: ="Centerfield"]He has never failed a test and there has been no credible evidence he used steroids. You're a better lawyer than I am, but I think the evidence is credible. The very fact that you're using the word "evidence" is a problem. There is no evidence. There is rumor, speculation, innuendo, and suspicion. It may a strongly held suspicion. But there is no evidence. To say so is disingenuous. Evidence of Mark McGwire using performance-enhancing drugs includes admissions thereto, failed drug tests, photographic or videographic accounts documenting such, corrorborated eyewitness accounts or corrorborated hearsay admissions. I may not like McGwire much either. I think he used steroids too. I also think that he should be in the Hall of Fame. That a Ty Cobb or a Gaylord Perry is in the Hall speaks very clearly to the issues of character or cheating. The Hall honors the best players. McGwire was one of them. Of that there should be no doubt.

I suspect the McGwire arguments will get pretty loud (and repetitive) soon but he's clearly a first-ballot hall-of-famer too. The steroids thing is just stupid at this point. Was he caught? No. If McGwire doesn't get in, I guess that means Gaylord Perry gets kicked out.

Nymr83 wrote: i'm not sure i'd bother extending him yet, the team had a good year but i don't know that he was any better than average, might as well take more time to evaluate him before committing to something longterm They had two good years with Randolph, not one. What exactly are you using to evaluate managers that would warrant the comment "i don't know that he was any better than average" ??

="Vic Sage"]no, but i'm hoping they do, because I'd rather have another LH bat on the bench other than Chavez, who'll be used alot for defense and as a spot starter, than a 12th pitcher, like Standridge or Adkins, who'll hardly ever pitch meaningful innings. Wasn't this theory completely disproven by 2006? The Mets carried 12 relievers for the entire season save the first week. There were few unimportant innings, especially with a starting rotation that didn't go deep into games. Granted, Trachsel and Pedro won't be around next year but be it Zitor or Glavine or someone else to go with Maine, El Duque et al. they're still not exactly going to have a ton of innings-eaters in that rotation. I'd think that 12th pitcher is going to be pretty valuable, and his innings are going to be meaningful. ]speaking of which, i'm hoping we can do better than Gotay in that slot. Its important to have a bat on the bench for late inning duty against good RHed setup guys and closers. I think that bat's going to be Green (when a lefty starts) and Chavez otherwise. That seems pretty capable.

metirish wrote: This also exposes the folly of trading for a guy that's going to be a FA after the season...so when you look at it Texas got Nelson Cruz,9 home runs with 35 RBI in trading for Lee,giving up four players. You have a point, but I think you need to qualify the "folly." It might've been for Texas, as they probably weren't good enough to use Lee to take them to the playoffs. There are plenty of examples of these sort of trades working just great (ie. the team makes the playoffs).

Don't count out Ben Johnson, either. I could see a situation in which Green, Alou, Johnson and Milledge each get about 250-300 at bats.

I thought it was more of a situation in which Bell was never going to get hig enough on the ML depth chart (behind Heilman, Sanchez, Bradford) and was now out of options.

One would think that with the Alou signing, the Mets position player roster is set for 2007. Presumably the only question would be whether Milledge or Johnson will be on the opening day roster (or both, if they go with 11 pitchers).

="metirish"]Good,I'm happy that that crackhead Pujols didn't win. I don't like Pujols much either but giving the award to Howard is impossible to reconcile with the numbers they put up. Howard's 8 extra homers and 7 extra RBI cannot make up for the fact that he struck out 181 times to Pujols' 50; Pujols also had an average 28 points higher (the rest of the numbers were fundamentally the same, with slightly higher totals to Albert in almost every other category. Howard actually had another star (Utley) hitting in that lineup too. Stupid vote.

Willets Point wrote: What the hell are they doing in Italy? Florida.

Johnny Dickshot wrote: The CYP is flawed. Exactly. I think I put a more detailed post about this before but it relies WAY too much on number of saves.

Umm, that Jay Bell picture (above) looks a lot like Tom Glavine. Especially considering that Bell didn't bat left.

How many of those 45 players were Mets? 4? Straw Doc Heredia Guillermo Mota