Gwreck

Ray Miller (he was the Twins pitching coach in the 90s under Tom Kelly ?) was Baltimore manager a few years back -- before Johnny Oates, I think. He lasted only 1 year, IIRC.

6 - Carlos Baerga? Umm, 75 games?

Wow, this sucks. I used to be pleased that no Mets (at least at the ML level) had been caught cheating with performance-enhancing drugs.

Johnny Dickshot wrote: He'd look awfully dangerous in the Phillies lineup. True, but I think the Phillies are going to be going hard after Aramis Ramirez instead.

I think we can leave the 5 game series, but what I'd like to see is: 1. Wild Card plays the team with the best record, regardless of division. 2. Change the structure of the games to 2-1-2. Wild Card team gets 1 home game in the first round. Make winning the division a bigger priority.

Edgy DC wrote: Yeah, well, the ticket's memoribilia value --- either to the holder or the e-bay shopper has to cancel out some of the value of five months' interest on $150, no? True, although that number's a bit low. Closer to the $1500 - $2000 range (2 seats, 3 games, plus the DS Game 5 refund...)

Johnny Dickshot wrote: Getting them in precise alpha order is a little outrageous for a closed-book quiz. I kinda like the idea of continuing to riff until we get 'em all. Agreed. Burgess Caravetta Down ... Herzog.. Johnson, Darrell Nieto Robinson, B. Robinson, S. Rojas Pavlick Perlozzo Peterson Stottlemyre Wallace Wilson

Elster88 wrote: We can do better than "several" for David Wright. True. He uses three songs. Brass Monkey is used for the second at-bat. I don't know what the first and third songs are, though. They start percussion-heavy but unfortunately have no lyrics in the first 10-20 seconds, so they're tougher to identify. They sound familar, but I couldn't place them. And no, I didn't have to actually write Carlos -- some other enterprising person out there in cyberland found it, thankfully. Thanks for the Castro clarification, will be duly noted. Shawn Green was using a third song in the playoffs, possibly another Audioslave song, although I'm not sure.

Updated! Carlos Beltran's song is El Esta Aqui, by David y Abraham. It is (as speculated) CCM music. CCM Salsa music. Starters Tom Glavine - Sweet Child O'Mine, Guns N Roses (Pitching) Tom Glavine - What You Gonna Do, Lil' Jon (Batting) John Maine - What I Like About You, The Romantics (Pitching) John Maine - Animal, Def Leppard (Batting) Steve Trachsel - Duck and Run, 3 Doors Down (Pitching and Batting) Relievers Chad Bradford - Over My Head (Cable Car), The Fray Aaron Heilman - London Calling, The Clash Guillermo Mota - I Like To Move It!, Reel 2 Real Royce Ring - Sad But True, Metallica Billy Wagner - Enter Sandman, Metallica C Paul LoDuca - Stayin' Alive, Bee Gees; Boogie Shoes, KC & The Sunshine Band; Shining Star, Earth, Wind & Fire IF Carlos Delgado - Rompe, Daddy Yankee Jose Reyes - Gasolina, Daddy Yankee Jose Valentin - Salio El Sol (Instrumental), Don Omar David Wright - several, including Brass Monkey, The Beastie Boys OF Cliff Floyd - Theme from Sanford and Son ("Streetbeater," by Quincy Jones). Carlos Beltran - El Esta Aqui, David y Abraham Shawn Green - Be Yourself, Audioslave and Ants Marching, Dave Matthews Band Bench Ramon Castro - Imperial March, John Williams and the London Philharmonic Orchestra (fr. the Star Wars Soundtrack) Julio Franco - People Get Ready, Crystal Lewis Michael Tucker - Shoulder Lean, Young Dro Chris Woodward - Sultans of Swing, Dire Straits; Money for Nothing, Dire Straits edit: Artist correction for Ramon Castro.

10th. Prior had a no-hitter going when Dusty pulled him but it was Prior's first start back from injury so there was no choice. Great game indeed.

Zvon wrote: I was curious to ask if any fights broke out there after the game One nearly did in the upper deck near first base between the bottom of the 8th and top of the 9th, between a couple of loud Cardinal fans and whomever they were antagonizing. On the subway platform, there was someone who was involved in some sort of altercation with the police that developed into quite the scene when he started resisting the directions of the officers. It took 5-6 officers to finally control this guy. I got the distinct impression that they were ready to kick the crap out of him but for the hundreds of potential witnesses.

If a Cardinals sweep put an end to the "AL is better" bullshit I wouldn't mind. But no playoff games for 19 years? 12 straight losing seasons? There's not even a question as to whose loyal fans deserve it more.

The August 22nd game against the Cardinals might've been my favorite from the whole year. You know the one: Mets down 7-1, Delgado's 400th as a Grand Slam, Beltran wins it with the walk-off. Early taste of what the playoff atmosphere at Shea.

Chavez 4 Perez 4 Wright 1 Bradford 1

You guys covered everything nicely in the IGT. For the historical record, I'll add that Endy got two curtain calls after that catch. First one had required some serious coaxing from Julio Franco to get him out. Both unfortunately probably occured during the commercial breaks. I still am a big Aaron Heilman fan. The crowd did a good job, still rising to their feet for the 2-strikes on the next batter, still cheering, with no booing as the inning ended (the typical Shea response to an inning like that). It's less than four months until pitchers and catchers report. I'm going to need most of that time to get over this past year.

Off to Shea...LET'S GO METS!

86-Dreamer wrote: even for the 2 games i sat in field level, i made a point to bypass the field level store and climb up to the mezz for the sandwich. Totally respect that. Nicely done.

MFS62 wrote: I won't be wearing the hat I wore to the game last Friday. For those of you who saw me and were wondering what it was, it is a Columbia Bombers (their old SAL farm team) cap. I spent a lot of time there on business and got it. Later Ha! Those who hang out here probably shouldn't need to wonder. I remember seeing it and meaning to comment on your superior choice of headwear but must've slipped my mind. That Cap City hat is still one of my favorite Minor League hats, up there with the old Quad City River Bandits hat.

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Is there more than one Mama's at Shea? I'm aware of the one at Field Level. They have a little entrance corridor so you can get to it even if you don't have Field Level tickets. It was a tasty sandwich. It's nice that ballparks have more selections than they used to. I believe they have a stand on the Mezzanine as well.

Mama's at Shea are indeed quite good, but you'll get a slightly bigger sandwich for less money if you go to the actual store in Corona.

I changed the mojo by entering through Gate E last night instead of Gate D. It had been Gate D for the entire playoffs before, but it'll be Gate E again tonight. My lucky hat is starting to get pretty bad. It was retired from regular season use a while ago, but it's still carrying a 5-1 postseason record with it so it'll always be around for the playoffs.

I believe the "need a few innings of really good relief" guy tonight is Aaron Heilman. He's barely (2.1 innings) pitched this series and is fairly well rested. I bet he could give 3 innings if necessary.

HahnSolo wrote: I thought I heard on FAN that Milledge has been working out in Port St. Lucie. If true, it lends credibility to the idea that he'd be activated for a World Series (if necessary). He's part of a group of players who are being kept ready there in case of injury. Also in St. Lucie are Dave Williams, Brian Bannister, and Heath Bell.

Edgy DC wrote: The Mets had already burned Michael Tucker in the seventh, so if they pinch-hit for Green, Chris Woodward is your leftfielder. I don't recall Woodward exactly sucking anywhere on defense. We could also put Valentin in left.

Maine 2 Reyes 2 LoDuca 2 Bradford 1 Heilman 1 Mota 1 Green 1