Gwreck

97-65. Yeah, that's right.

Edgy DC wrote: Sorry. You want in? valadius and Mex17 haven't been around, and I imagine they won't be peeved if you take one of their slots. "Fever Pitch" was on TV today, so I watched a bit -- for my favorite scene: "You want the Yankees game? Let me see you dance. Let's see you going here. That's not Yankee dancing. That's Devil Ray dancing..." [substitute Edgy as the Jimmy Fallon character and apply as needed to the distribution of KTE assignments...]

^ Just barely beat me to it.

Nothing earthshattering. Two dozen marriage proposals a week, apparently. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/preview06/news/story?id=2391581

Metsblog.com reports hearing Minaya on ESPN Radio saying Bannister as the starter for game #2 on Wednesday.

New pictures (!). Half-way there with the pinstripe jerseys...where are those blue hats? PS Nice "Blinded" reference by Edgy.

soupcan wrote: Pre-paid parking comes with certain season ticket packages and lots of times if you buy expensive seats in advance, parking is included. ?? I was pretty sure pre-paid parking was available only with a full-season plan.

Johnny Dickshot wrote: And if Cameron his 30 home runs in San Diego, the question won't be "why'd we trade him/" but "Why couldn't he do that for us?" And of course, the response will be "he did," followed by much silence.

Jay Payton finished 3rd in ROY balloting in 2000, including one 1st place vote.

If we're not trading Milledge at all, these are likely to be some important players should the Mets need to make a deal at the end of July. My personal crystal ball still says the Mets will try to trade for a prominent starting pitcher come the end of July...

The Beltran point is good. For what it's worth, I really hope that because a LOT of attention has been moved elesewhere (Wagner, Delgado, plus more of the same for Pedro and Wright) he'll be able to settle down and start raking. In terms of the season, I think Beltran could duplicate his numbers from last year and it wouldn't affect the team nearly as much as Pedro and Glavine...and Zambrano will.

Marty Noble on Mets.com reports that Milledge, Self, Redman and Sandy Martinez are all officially now in Minor-league camp and Matsui is officially on the DL, retroactive to March 18 (eligible to come off April 8). My crystal ball reports that the roster is all but locked in, with 3 possible scenarios (in projected order of liklihood): A: Diaz comes north with either Feliciano or Oliver. Roster crunch probably sends Anderson Hernandez (or possibly Diaz) back to Norfolk when Matsui comes off the DL. B1 Both Feliciano and Oliver come north, Diaz to AAA. Anderson Hernandez back to AAA when Matsui comes back. B2. Both Feliciano and Oliver come north, Diaz to AAA. One of the pitchers to AAA when Matsui comes back

Bringing this back on topic, I think this sort of thing has the potential to develop into the type of situation that exists on Mets.com. It's the official site, it's Mets/MLB-run, etc. but they've got a stand-up guy in Marty Noble there who will still point out when the team/Randolph/a player is doing something wrong. Why do we necessarily think that management won't let the SNY announcers be critical? Because the Knicks did something like that?

This is the best one I can find...

Given that Victor went 8 innings, with 5 hits, 2 walks and one run they only time that's happened, I doubt it was much of a burden.

I should add a P.S. that anyone not on that list who you didn't already have is confirmed single.

Figures that today was the day I take off, too. Anybody else celebrating the most wonderful day of spring training today? (Today was my first. We finally sprung for the Tuesday/Friday plan).

Megan Bannister Monica Garcia Jennifer Maine Joenllerly Perez Morgan Keppinger Maria Gonzalez Michelle LaVigne Josefina Parra Indhira Martinez Doris Tejeda Crystal Self (thanks, Media Guide)

The debate with Bonds' stats being wiped is particularly troublesome when you factor in the fact that he hasn't be caught. Officially, anyway. Baseball tests for steroids, right? Bonds hasn't been suspended, right? Ok, I know that sounds somewhat silly, especially given the evidence that Bonds has been taking something. But the problem is that without some sort of official finding on the part of baseball, I don't think it's possible -- or reasonable -- for people to consider excluding stats, or excluding him from the hall of fame. As for the Rose comparison -- wasn't Rose placed on the permanently excluded list? As part of an agreement with the comissioner's office? There's an official action. Hence no HOF for Rose. There's nothing analgous there to Bonds.

Nobody's mentioned the postseason yet. There's a WS MVP (groan) along with some pretty good numbers. I think that would tip the scale to "in" if it had to be decided today. "Lock" might be exaggerating, but there hasn't been a lot of evidence to suggest he's not going to continue to perform at a high level for a while to come. A few more typical seasons and it won't be debatable.

Made the front page of the website, along with scathing pieces by Gene Wojciechowski and Buster Olney.

THE METS Round-the-clock updates on Pedro and his special new shoe are gripping, no doubt; not since the "phalanxious" days of Eric Dickerson-vs-the-Hoosier-Dome-turf have we been so enthralled. But the Mets' world revolves around David Wright now. If he avoids a sophomore slump, we're likely talking about the best third baseman in baseball not named Alex. At 23, Wright posted a glowing .912 OPS and 28 Win Shares in 2005, and he was better in every major offensive category after the All-Star break. This year, Baseball Prospectus' PECOTA projection sees still happier returns in the offing, figuring him for roughly 40 doubles, 30 home runs, nearly 20 stolen bases and a VORP (value over replacement player) score of 59.9 (fifth-best in the game). The questions are these: Will he hold up under the weight of high expectations, on both him and the club? The NL East is New York's to win, so there ain't no flying beneath the radar this year (witness the most recent ESPN The Magazine cover). And, just as importantly, will Mets manager Willie Randolph give him the chance to carry the weight? Willie's talked about not wanting to rush Wright (he hit him down in the order last year, even when it was clear the kid could mash), and he's toying with his batting order plans this spring like a repentant grandma working her rosary. This shouldn't be complicated: Wright should hit second or third, not fifth or sixth. If he doesn't, the Mets are selling him short and shooting themselves in the foot.

Couple of thoughts: I agree with the Ordonez assessment -- I never got the impression that he was much of a team player. The "selfish" argument could apply, and his comments re: Mets fans clearly cover the "stupid" label. I'm tempted to say Rey Sanchez belongs in the same category. As for the Piazza situation mentioned much earlier, saying that Piazza should've been at first 3 or 4 years before it happened is misinformed. Olerud had first through 99. Zeile had it in '00, which bought him '01. Maybe Piazza could've been moved then, but the Mets...not Piazza...traded for Vaughn, who, believe it or not, actually had a reasonable second half in '02. Maybe Mike should've been at first in '03 more than that one game. But that's only a year before he was actually playing there...not the 3 or 4 claimed earlier.

Willets Point wrote: Ah, $5.75 to see the Beatles (and no TicketBastard "service fees" I bet). Probably a small fortune then, but still. Then again most accounts say the show sounded like crap, if you could hear anything over the screaming. Still, it's the Beatles. $5.75 for a 30 minute show wasn't that much of a bargain. Seriously. The first show was about 30 minutes long. Thanks to all for digging up the pictures. Only Shea concert photos I have are from a couple years ago when Bruce was there.