stevejrogers

BOOKS!

Come on Davey.

4-3 Brewers in Milwaukee in the 7th.

Nino Espinosa is discussed in a thread mocking the Yankees bringing out the "ghosts" of MFY Stadium. Nino Espinosa appears in the Cranepool Forum Banner later that evening. Coincidence?

="Benjamin Grimm"] And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? Well an actual torch would be. Symbolic, like home plate, different story.

="metirish":17v811sj]A torch like the Olympic torch?....will there be protesters ?[/quote:17v811sj] Sure, the gang from Loge13.com and their buddies in the Iron Triangle! HahnSolo Sep 23 2008 10:47 AM ="SteveJRogers":nytpgns8]="Adam Rubin":nytpgns8]It�s believed a torch may go from Shea Stadium to Citi Field.[/quote:nytpgns8] And how will that be tamer and less cheezy than bringing out team and/or stadium employees as "ghosts" of long dead players and managers?[/quote:nytpgns8] You're kidding, right? Benjamin Grimm Sep 23 2008 10:51 AM Wait... what? Did the Yankees really have the soda vending guy dressed up as the ghost of Lou Gehrig? And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? (I have to confess: I know nothing about how the Yankees celebrated the closing of their ballpark. I didn't watch and didn't read any of the accounts.) HahnSolo Sep 23 2008 10:53 AM Yes. And Yes. metirish Sep 23 2008 11:02 AM I read something about forcing 105 year old Julia Ruth Stevens (Babe's daughter) to throw out the first pitch , wanting everything to look wonderful Hank had her warm up in the bullpen before hand. soupcan Sep 23 2008 11:27 AM I've got questions. When the soda guy/ghost of Lou Gehrig was introduced, was the rain-like applause hard or soft? Also - when the ghost of Bill Dickey came out, was he able to catch Babe Ruth's non-blood relative's first pitch while still holding his tray of cotton candy? Benjamin Grimm Sep 23 2008 11:30 AM You're making it all sound so... so... cheesy! seawolf17 Sep 23 2008 12:51 PM ="soupcan":7nnlxn67]Also - when the ghost of Bill Dickey came out, was he able to catch Babe Ruth's non-blood relative's first pitch while still holding his tray of cotton candy?[/quote:7nnlxn67] No, but he did get docked pay for missing an hour's worth of selling time. Dude didn't make his quota for the day. SteveJRogers Sep 23 2008 02:53 PM ="Benjamin Grimm"] And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? Well an actual torch would be. Symbolic, like home plate, different story. soupcan Sep 23 2008 02:57 PM ="SteveJRogers"]="Benjamin Grimm"] And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? Well an actual torch would be. Symbolic, like home plate, different story. Since when are you the arbiter of all things cheesy or non? A torch, while a bit odd I admit, is nowhere near as stupid as bringing out hot dog hawkers dressed as legendary ballplayers. AG/DC Sep 29 2008 09:23 AM Now and perhaps forever: the only Tracy in Mets History. LOCAL LEGENDS: Coeburn High School�s Tracy Stallard Published: September 28, 2008 BY TIM HAYES BRISTOL HERALD COURIER It�s both unfair and unfortunate that Tracy Stallard�s baseball career has come to be defined by one moment. He never lost a game while pitching at Coeburn High School and his exploits are the stuff of legend in Wise County. He put together a respectable seven-season career in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. Yet, despite all those accomplishments, Stallard is still remembered most for one moment. One pitch. One game. It occurred on the final day of the 1961 regular season at Yankee Stadium. Stallard was 23-years-old and in his second season in the big leagues with Boston. He appeared in 43 games that summer for the Red Sox, shuffling between the bullpen and the starting rotation. Boston manager Pinky Higgins decided to start the young right-hander in the final game of the season against a potent New York Yankees lineup. He was solid through three innings and started the fourth inning by striking out Tony Kubek. Then Roger Maris stepped into the batter�s box. Maris had tied Babe Ruth�s single-season home run record of 60, and this game represented his final chance to surpass a mark that had stood for 34 years. In the fourth, he blasted a Stallard pitch down the right-field line. The ball soared into the stands, Maris placed his name in the record book and Stallard forever became the answer to a trivia question. While Stallard and Maris will be eternally linked because of that pitch, there�s more to the Stallard story. Much more. The native son Carroll Dale was a standout athlete in high school during the mid-1950s. The Wise native was so good, in fact, that he went on to play football at Virginia Tech and eventually earned two Super Bowl titles as a wide receiver with the Green Bay Packers. But there was a pitcher at rival Coeburn that Dale and many others just couldn�t solve. �I know every time we played Coeburn, he would have 16 or 17 strikeouts and that was it,� Dale said. �I don�t think anybody was very competitive when he was pitching.� That pitcher was Stallard, and many players went down swinging at his fastball for four unbeaten years. His best season with the Blue Knights came as a senior, when he went 8-0 and tossed two no-hitters. Those numbers earned him a spot in the Virginia High School League Hall of Fame in 2005. His performance also attracted major-league scouts. He signed with the Red Sox in 1956, thus beginning his professional career. Stallard starred in the minor leagues and made his big league debut on Sept. 24, 1960, at Cleveland Stadium. In the ninth inning of Boston�s 11-7 loss to the Cleveland Indians, Stallard entered and worked a scoreless inning. He registered his first major-league strikeout during that outing, fanning Woodie Held for the second out. Back in Coeburn, it was a big deal. �It was a very proud town,� Coeburn resident Steve Hubbard Sr. recalled. Stallard also saw a familiar face when he arrived in Boston. Scott County native Dave Hillman was also a pitcher for Boston, and the duo gave the Red Sox the distinction of having two Southwest Virginia natives on the roster at the same time. �He was a great teammate,� Hillman said. �We had quite a few conversations in the bullpen and everywhere else in Boston about pitching � He could pitch, and he had good stuff.� The moment Stallard appeared in four games for Boston in 1960. The next year he compiled a 2-7 record and a 4.88 ERA and allowed 15 home runs, including the one on Oct. 1 that proved to be historically significant. But there are some things that many people forget or simply don�t know about his encounter with Maris. Maris� solo blast was the only run Stallard allowed in seven innings that day in Boston�s 1-0 loss. It was also the only hit Maris had in seven career at-bats against Stallard. Stallard also played five more seasons in the majors after that fateful day at Yankee Stadium. After pitching in just one game for the Red Sox in 1962, Stallard was traded to the New York Mets, along with Al Moran and Pumpsie Green, for Felix Mantilla. Stallard�s stats weren�t too impressive during those two seasons in New York � he went 6-17 with a 4.71 ERA in 1963 and 10-20 with a 3.79 ERA in 1964 � but keep in mind that the Mets lost a combined 220 games those two seasons, so he didn�t have much run support. For instance, in a August 4, 1964 game against the San Francisco Giants, Stallard allowed just one earned run in 10 1/3 innings. Yet, he settled for no decision, and the Mets eventually lost 4-3 in 14 innings. Earlier that season in a game at Shea Stadium, Stallard was again on the wrong side of history. He was the losing pitcher on June 21, when Philadelphia�s Jim Bunning tossed a perfect game against the Mets. Stallard would be on the move again in 1964 as he and Elio Chacon were dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Gordie Richardson and Johnny Lewis. Stallard had his best season in the summer of 1964, going 11-8 with a 3.38 ERA in 40 games (26 starts) for the Cardinals. He was in the same rotation as Bob Gibson, and his battery mates included Tim McCarver and Bob Uecker. One year later, Stallard went 1-5 with a 5.68 ERA for the Cardinals. It was his final season in the majors. His final tally was a 30-57 record with four saves and a 4.17 ERA in 183 major league games. He also fared well against some of the league�s greatest hitters. Willie Mays hit just .200 and struck out six times in 30 at-bats against the kid from Coeburn, while Harmon Killebrew, Mickey Mantle and Ernie Banks were also among his strikeout victims. These days The 71-year-old Stallard keeps a low profile these days. In fact, numerous attempts to reach him for this story were unsuccessful. He is still competitive, as evidenced by the fact he competes in several area golf tournaments. This summer, he won the super seniors division at a prestigious tournament at Lonesome Pine Country Club in Big Stone Gap. Maris� record was broken in 1998 and now ranks just seventh all-time on the single-season home run list. Still, Maris and Stallard will be forever linked in baseball history because of that one moment in 1961. thayes@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2570 John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 29 2008 09:30 AM Shame on Stallard for making Tim Hayes write that story without his contribution. I read where Stallard was quite the dashing young stud around the city. AG/DC Sep 29 2008 09:42 AM Decent job grinding it out anyhow by young Hayes. AG/DC Oct 06 2008 03:01 PM Rusty Tillman is: a former Mets outfielder claiming to be Jose Canseco's first source for steroids homeless and living in the woodsBridget Murphy of the The Florida Times Union joins the Rico Brogna Journalism All Star Team. From pro-baseball to homeless Hometown baseball hero Rusty Tillman lived a life many dream about. Now he calls a tent his home. By The Times-Union Story by BRIDGET MURPHY Photos by JON M. FLETCHER "It's not like they put a sign out there, 'This is where Rusty Tillman's ball landed.' " The ex-slugger is playing down his glory days from a bench in the away dugout at Fletcher High School. But Kerry Jerome "Rusty" Tillman is basking in not-so-secret pleasure as an old schoolmate is doing his best to resurrect one day in particular. JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Rusty Tillman holds his 2-year-old daughter Sarah during an afternoon visit. While circumstances have left Tillman homeless in Mayport, he tries to make it a habit to visit his daughter daily.It was a Senators home game, must have been 1977, Fletcher Athletic Director Joe Reynolds remembers. A slender 17-year-old in a white-and-purple uniform stepped up to the plate. Then with a crack of wood on stitched leather, Tillman ripped a moon shot. Fans at the Neptune Beach school swarmed the fence to watch the rocket rise up, up and over the outfield wall. Reynolds was coaching on the track and sent one of his runners after the baseball. He says no one has smashed one so far since. Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal.Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal.Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal."I remember where I was when President Kennedy was killed," Reynolds says. "... I remember when he hit that baseball." The story means the world to Tillman, now 48. Now homeless. He is desperate to cling to the things that are good in his life. Even if he has to flash back 30 years to find them. Those were the days when Chuck Fisette, a lefty who threw 94-mph "smoke" for the Senators, said pitchers cringed when Tillman came up to bat. "You knew he was going to hit it out of the park. You just didn't know how far or in what direction," said the now-veteran Jacksonville corrections officer. By the time Tillman graduated, he'd turned down a Cincinnati Reds offer. But nobody knew how far Tillman would go. Or later, after his 1979 selection by the New York Mets and time on two other major league teams, how far he would fall. Or the kind of secrets he was keeping. Most people still don't know. Because while Reynolds and Tillman were reminiscing in the dugout that July morning, Reynolds had no idea that Tillman was living in a tent in the woods a few miles away. He had no idea that Tillman had been a visitor at Fisette's workplace in recent years, or that he was selling his blood plasma to buy his only luxuries: cell phone minutes, Copenhagen snuff and Sonic banana smoothies. JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Tillman in a 1977-78 Fletcher High School yearbook.Sometimes Tillman also splurged on bug spray. It saved his skin from the blood-suckers that left itchy reminders he had an address marked only by the tags surveyors left on trees. 'Tillman Country Club' Somebody's watchdogs tattle on Tillman as he sneaks through a hole in the fence behind Mayport apartments. But the intruder doesn't hesitate. He rolls his bicycle into knee-high weeds, away from manicured lawns, away from painted parking spots and dead-bolted doors, away from everything else there is for anybody to protect. When the animals sense it, the barking stops. At 6 feet tall and about 200 pounds, it's mostly the creatures that slither in the grass that worry Tillman in the woods. The muscles that served him in pro ball - a bulk strangely still there - won't help with a snakebite. He carries a flashlight at night to spot snakes and zips the opening of his gray tent to keep them out. A blue tarp on top of that tent was all the protection Tillman had during Tropical Storm Fay in August. He stayed put even after two trees crashed onto the tents of homeless friends who left. "Living out here, I have learned a lot," he says. "I never thought I'd be here. I guess once I get back, I'll learn to appreciate what I had." Tillman calls the maroon mountain bike that a pastor gave him - after a promise he wasn't on drugs - his "Escalade." He says he's been clean at least three months. Tillman parks the bike in front of the camp he calls "Tillman Country Club." His belongings include blankets, a radio and a battery-operated unit that delivers shock therapy to his sports-worn knees. He sleeps next to a saw blade and a kitchen knife for protection. Tillman also has a portable TV. He powers it with a car battery that needs a recharge every four days. He has nothing left from his baseball days. No player cards. No uniform caps. No money. Tillman is a man whose family wants to help - begs to help. He is a man with smarts, with guts, with pride - yes, plenty of that. It is the piston that drives him to believe that after his journey, as he says, "from the penthouse to the craphouse," he will get his life together without charity. He knows there is a prize waiting for him when he does. Her name is Sarah Tillman. She turned 2 last month. Nearly every evening, Tillman pedals from his camp to her mother's home in the posh Selva Marina section of Atlantic Beach. Then the father tucks the toddler into bed and slips back into the woods. "I'll probably die from worrying someday," Tillman says by his tent on the kind of summer afternoon that demands air conditioning and cool drinks. "I think what keeps me going now is seeing my daughter graduate from high school." If Tillman makes it to Sarah's elementary school days, he says there will be another reward too: a Major League Baseball pension of about $35,000 a year. Kate Weatherby, Sarah's mother and Tillman's ex-girlfriend, says there's nothing she can do to help him in the meantime. "He knows what he needs to do to get things in order. It's making the choice to do that," she says. But how does a hometown hero who rises to a champagne life skid to the streets? There were fast times and women, divorces and drugs, is how Tillman tells it. Then there were secrets about the drugs, some Tillman said never should have come out. Even after he bottomed out, Tillman said he never sold out his baseball family to make a buck. Instead, he accepted it as his short-lived fame slipped away with his modest fortune. Instead, he fumed as he watched ex-Oakland Athletics teammate Jose Canseco rake in attention and money with two books about baseball's steroids scandal. Tillman said four teammates, including Canseco, bought and used the steroids Tillman smuggled from Mexico when he played for the A's. It was 1986, a year after the Mets traded Tillman and he ended up in Oakland. Bringing the 'juice' Once his steroids confession starts spilling out, Tillman makes it clear he's not naming names like Canseco did. Tillman sees himself as a backup outfielder who knew how to take one for the team. "The code is whatever you do, you're on your own. I'm not going to take you down with me. I didn't get the time that these guys got. But I was one of the lucky ones who got to be around these guys. And I kept my mouth shut." Canseco didn't mention Tillman in his two books and didn't respond to interview requests through his attorney, Gregory Emerson. In his 2008 book Vindicated, Canseco describes getting his first steroids in 1984 from a weight-lifter friend from high school. "I was his first in major leagues," Tillman says. "... I'm the one who started bringing it from Mexico." Tillman said he got the steroids when he'd make extra money playing in a Mexican pro league in the off-season. He started using them after a torn rotator cuff sidelined him. He'd already suffered through a wrist injury, getting so many cortisone shots that his black skin turned white around the injection site. Tillman also had multiple knee surgeries. The steroids were cheap and easy to buy at Mexican pharmacies. And they got results. When Tillman took charter flights back to America, he said no one would check a pro ball player's bags. When his steroids supply ran low, someone he trusted crossed the border and brought him more. The person he named refused to do a Times-Union interview. "It wasn't that I was trying to make money on this," Tillman explains of the 30 to 40 boxes he said he sold for $400 or $500 each. "It was for the family." He took a shot a week, something to give him an edge so he was ready to come off the bench. "A lot of people think it's cheating, but if you don't go out there and perform, they're going to say you're a bum." In March 1987, the A's released Tillman after 11 months and 22 games. His best highlight came off a pitch from Hall of Fame lefty Steve Carlton that he hit out of the park in a game against the White Sox on Sept. 23, 1986. By 1988, Tillman was with the San Francisco Giants, when he hit his second and last home run in the majors. After that, he went back to the minors and was expecting another call-up after a hitting streak. But the call never came. While Tillman said no one ever caught him, accused him or arrested him for steroids, he suspects the game blackballed him for it. "Word might have gotten around that the real Juiceman was here," he said. In the 1990s, Tillman went back to Mexico, helping lead his team in Tabasco to a 1993 championship. In all, he had played 38 games in the majors, 11 seasons in the minors and about six seasons abroad. Tillman says he made maybe a half-million dollars in all and has no regrets about steroids or anything else. "There's a dark side of all of sports. What I done is what I done." Back to work In early August, Tillman got a job in the kitchen of a seafood place in Jacksonville Beach. After more than a year on the streets, there was joy in his voice as he prepared for his first shift. "We'll see how it goes," he said. "I mean, I'm blessed for what I got." JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Rusty Tillman at his campsite in the Mayport area with the portable television he powers off a car battery in his tent.Hugh Palmer, a social worker at the mission where the ex-athlete eats and showers, said Tillman doesn't talk about his past. He said Tillman has an unusual mix of humility and confidence that makes him stand out among his peers. "To see a homeless person that's kind of larger than life, that just goes back to homelessness can happen to anyone," Palmer said. Tillman has plenty of job experience outside of baseball. He's had a few jobs in food service, including cooking for the Jaguars at their downtown stadium last season. In the late 1990s, he worked as a heavy equipment operator in Jacksonville. At the time, he was married to his second wife, Alycia Tillman. The 34-year-old divorcee called her ex-husband, who also has two grown sons from prior relationships, a good provider who worked a second job at Krystal to make extra money. The two of them went to work renovating his grandmother's home on the block he grew up on in Atlantic Beach, after marrying in 1999. It was a few doors from the home where Tillman's late father, a Jacksonville Beach city mechanic, and late mother, a school custodian, raised him, his three brothers and his sister. But Alycia Tillman said her husband started indulging a drug addiction when the two moved back to his hometown. Tillman said he had his own reasons for their split. When a judge granted the uncontested divorce in 2003, a copy of the order he mailed to Tillman came back marked like this: "Tillman moved. Left no address. Unable to forward. Return to sender." In September, Alycia Tillman said she was shocked to hear that her ex was living in the woods. "If I'd known he was in that situation, he could have come to me. If it's not Kerry's way," she said, using Tillman's given name, "he just won't do it. If he can't get it, he doesn't feel he needs it." After a few weeks of restaurant night shifts this summer, Tillman decided he'd rather see Sarah. He was missing those nightly tuck-ins. But a lucky break was coming his way this time. A former Fletcher schoolmate with a plumbing company agreed to hire him. Tillman had been riding his bicycle past Brian Christy's business for months, promising to learn quickly if he took a chance on him. A month ago, Tillman got his call-up. "Rusty knows what having a lot of money in his pocket is about and he also knows what not having any is about," Christy said. "A guy like that, you're not going to beat him down. It's his decision if he's going to get back on top of his game." After work on Sept. 19, Tillman planned to meet Sarah and her mother at Fletcher High School. The three of them were going to dinner to celebrate the toddler's birthday. Before that, Fletcher baseball coach Kevin Brown spotted his former classmate on the diamond. He told Tillman he was thrilled to see him at school, that he should come back and teach the boys how to really hit. Then the coach found a couple of bats. For the first time in years, Tillman stepped onto the field and took a swing. "Oh man, this brings back memories for real," Tillman said. "Oh yeah, I could see myself hitting some. I'd miss a whole bunch. But I'd hit some." bridget.murphy@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4161.Video: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1156018486/bctid1836680060 AG/DC Oct 17 2008 06:29 AM John Stearns makes Hall of Fame at Colorado University, who could use some good pub. Frankly, I'm surprised it's taken this long, considering the proliferation and dubious standards of Halls of Fame, but this does shed some light on one of the most enduring number-related mysteries in Met history. According to this photo, John wore 12 as an All-America defensive back, which could explain half of the 1977 number swap with Lee Mazzilli. Stearns into CU Hall of Fame Posted by GEOFF MORROW, Of The Patriot-News October 16, 2008 Harrisburg Senators manager John Stearns in his college football pose at the University of Colorado. He'll be inducted into the CU Hall of Fame on Friday. Considered one of the most prolific two-sport stars in University of Colorado history, Harrisburg Senators manager John Stearns will be inducted into the Buffaloes' Hall of Fame today in Boulder. Stearns, 57, starred for the Colorado football and baseball teams in the early 1970s. A first-team all-conference selection as a senior safety, Stearns earned the nickname "Bad Dude" as one of the most feared hitters in team history. He still holds the Buffaloes' career record with 16 interceptions and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 1973 NFL draft. But football wasn't even his best game, and he never played a down in the NFL. Stearns earned All-American status in baseball in '73, leading the NCAA in home runs (15) that year. His career numbers at Colorado include a .366 batting average, 26 home runs, 101 RBIs and 48 stolen bases. A catcher, he Stearns was the No. 2 overall pick in the 1973 amateur draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He was traded to the New York Mets after the '74 season and became a four-time National League all-star. After retiring, he became a scout and coach and managed the Senators in 2006 and 2008. In other Senators news, pitching coach Rick Tomlin, who spent the past four years with the Senators, is not returning to the organization, a fact confirmed by Bobby Williams, the Nationals' director of player development. Senators president Kevin Kulp also announced that Dan Watson, the team's secondary radio broadcaster last year, completed his internship in September and is not returning. Kulp said the team will look to hire another media intern, probably in January. For more on Stearns' induction, see Friday's edition of The Patriot-News. John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 17 2008 07:13 AM nice G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:08 AM Steve Henderson coaching his way into the World Series. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy who couldn't have given at least one already long-suffering fan a better Saturday night 28 years ago. ]Henderson missed winning the NL's Rookie of the Year Award by one vote to Montreal's Andre Dawson in 1977 after hitting .297 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI in 350 at-bats. In 1979 he hit .306 and in 1980, his final season in Flushing, he hit .290. It was that year that he had his most memorable day as a Met, and perhaps his most memorable day in baseball -- until Sunday night. On June 14, Henderson picked up his girlfriend Pam at LaGuardia, proposed to her (she accepted and they are still married) and then took her to the ballpark, where he etched his name into Mets lore for something other than being trade bait. In what has come to be called "The Steve Henderson Game," the left fielder stroked a three-run home run to right that capped a five-run, ninth-inning rally, as the previously awful Mets stunned the Giants, 7-6, to move to within a game of .500 and within six games of the Expos in the NL East. "That was a great, great day," Henderson said with a smile. "I'll always remember that one. But these days are pretty good, too." AG/DC Oct 21 2008 10:10 AM I (1) don't remember the proposal angle, which is awesome, and (2) am surprised it's got an eponymous reputation outside of here. G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:12 AM It got a cameo in the Shea Goodbye DVD even. AG/DC Oct 21 2008 10:19 AM I feel like we coined something. G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:20 AM I've been calling it the Steve Henderson Game since probably no later than June 16, 1980. AG/DC Oct 21 2008 10:27 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 21 2008 12:06 PM I just checked the calendar. It turns out that it's Shoot Down AG/DC Day. It came up so fast this year. G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:41 AM I've been calling it that since probably no later than eleven o'clock this morning. metirish Oct 21 2008 10:56 AM ="G-Fafif"]Steve Henderson coaching his way into the World Series. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy who couldn't have given at least one already long-suffering fan a better Saturday night 28 years ago. ]Henderson missed winning the NL's Rookie of the Year Award by one vote to Montreal's Andre Dawson in 1977 after hitting .297 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI in 350 at-bats. In 1979 he hit .306 and in 1980, his final season in Flushing, he hit .290. It was that year that he had his most memorable day as a Met, and perhaps his most memorable day in baseball -- until Sunday night. On June 14, Henderson picked up his girlfriend Pam at LaGuardia, proposed to her (she accepted and they are still married) and then took her to the ballpark, where he etched his name into Mets lore for something other than being trade bait. In what has come to be called "The Steve Henderson Game," the left fielder stroked a three-run home run to right that capped a five-run, ninth-inning rally, as the previously awful Mets stunned the Giants, 7-6, to move to within a game of .500 and within six games of the Expos in the NL East. "That was a great, great day," Henderson said with a smile. "I'll always remember that one. But these days are pretty good, too." Nice article on Henderson , can't say I knew much about him before now so thnaks for that. Farmer Ted Oct 21 2008 12:00 PM God, how did I miss Henderson with the Rays? Who else didn't know? AG/DC Oct 21 2008 12:13 PM The funny thing about the Joe Torre era is, despite how much they struggled to get their heads aobve water, how static a roster they had. G-Fafif Oct 22 2008 07:26 AM ="AG/DC":5nmwi48e]The funny thing about the Joe Torre era is, despite how much they struggled to get their heads aobve water, how static a roster they had.[/quote:5nmwi48e] Thinking about this observation in the context of my visceral over-the-top enthusiasm on September 28 when Doug Flynn was introduced. Next to Doc and Fonzie, two Mets I'd been waiting forever for to come home, I wasn't more elated to see anybody in a Mets jersey than Doug Flynn. It was bigger than Willie Mays to me, I think. That probably owes to the fact that those lousy teams from '77 to '80, the core of them anyway, stayed together. Those were our guys in (in my case) junior high and high school. Those were the guys we argued on behalf of, if only in our heads: Flynn, Hendu, Mazz, Blood, Swannie, Dude. They weren't very good but they were always there. Showing up counts. It's the difference (along with the perspective of age and expectation) between those lousy teams and the later lousy teams. There was more movement in the early '90s. It's the way the industry worked then, and you'd have been crazy to have hoped Vince Coleman would have hung around one second longer than he had to. By the lousy teams of '02-'04, there was nothing charming about it, certainly not if you'd lived through other dark eras. Maybe someday somebody who was a kid in 2003 will leap to his feet for an Old Timers introduction of Ty Wigginton. Ah, who am I kidding? I'll leap to my feet for an Old Timers introduction of Ty Wigginton. metirish Oct 27 2008 06:48 AM Koosman ] WHERE ARE THEY NOW? JERRY KOOSMAN BY JIM BAUMBACH | jim.baumbach@newsday.com October 26, 2008 Jerry Koosman hasn't followed the Tampa Bay Rays all that much this season, so he only recently became aware that people are comparing their stunning run to the World Series to the '69 Mets. But even though the former Mets lefthander might not be able to name many of the Tampa Bay players, he sure knows all about what these 20-somethings on the Rays are going through right now. And if the Rays are anything like those Miracle Mets, then they're not looking at this World Series against the Phillies as a chance to prove their worth to America. Because the Mets definitely didn't feel that way. "We felt we proved that we could win," Koosman said, "by getting to the World Series." But once there, the pressure of playing on the big stage definitely was intense. "The World Series was just a new endeavor, something none of us had ever experienced before," said Koosman, who allowed four runs and seven hits in 17 2/3 innings in winning Games 2 and 5. "So every day brought something new, like a different person singing the national anthem." Just like the '69 Mets, the Rays split the first two games of the World Series, losing the first and winning the second. Koosman said he approached Game 2 much differently from a normal game. "Personally, I went out there with a fear of losing," he said. "I just didn't want to lose. I didn't want to be taken out of the ballgame. I didn't want to be pinch hit for. I didn't want to be behind, whatever. I was just really fearful of losing and pitched my butt off because of that. "And in the back of my mind, I had a goal of pitching a perfect game." Seriously? "I certainly was thinking that," he said. Koosman wasn't perfect that day, but he was close enough. He took a no-hitter into the seventh and lasted 8 2/3 innings before Ron Taylor got the final out in the Mets' 2-1 win over the Orioles. Now 65 years old and living in a small Wisconsin suburb about an hour from Minneapolis, Koosman made a point of watching the Rays last week. He said the biggest similarity he noticed between their team and his was the young pitching staffs, especially the starters. The Mets' starters in the World Series were Koosman (26), Tom Seaver (24) and Gary Gentry (23). The Rays' starters are James Shields (26), Andy Sonnanstine (25), Matt Garza (24) and Scott Kazmir (24). The two teams' histories also are similar. In their first seven seasons of existence, the Mets had an average record of 56-105. After going 73-89 in 1968, they were 100-62 in 1969 and won the World Series. In its first 10 years of existence, Tampa Bay had an average record of 65-97. Then the Rays followed a 66-96 2007 season by going 97-65. If history repeats itself, the Rays will not lose again. In '69, the Mets won the series in five games, the last four in a row after losing the first in Baltimore. Koosman pitched Game 5, and he said he felt even more pressure to win that game than Game 2. "You could just sense how great it would be to win in New York and not go back to Baltimore," he said. "That was the main talk in the clubhouse and during batting practice. By the time the game started, each of us, I think, put enough pressure on ourselves. The outside pressure didn't matter anymore." Singer/actress Pearl Bailey, who sang the national anthem that day, approached Koosman just before he started his warmups. "She told me she saw the number eight and forecasted we would win," he said. "She didn't know what the number eight meant, but we won, 5-3." AG/DC Oct 27 2008 07:14 AM How has Jerry occupied himself in retirement? Benjamin Grimm Oct 27 2008 07:30 AM My guess: Golf! AG/DC Oct 27 2008 07:36 AM Well, I was thinking more about income-generating occupation. Has he kept the family farm going? Besides, I'm guessing that the golf in Minnesoata isn't top-notch. Benjamin Grimm Oct 27 2008 08:25 AM Well, he's almost 66 years old. I hope, for his sake, that he's happily retired by now. AG/DC Oct 27 2008 08:45 AM Well, I'm in the present perfect tense here, wondering how he's occupied himself in the interim, since his release by the Philllies. G-Fafif Oct 27 2008 08:51 AM It doesn't speak to his present occupation, but I got a big kick out of Kooz two years ago when SNY brought him and Mookie to town as part of a big pep rally prior to the postseason and Matt Yallof asked him to describe what it was like pitching in New York in October and Jerry took the question literally and described how the cool weather was very helpful. What a great Midwestern answer. metirish Oct 27 2008 09:31 AM Jerry had the open heart surgery a few years back IIRC. AG/DC Oct 27 2008 06:21 PM Straight outa Compton. The Duke Of Flatbush: The Story Of Duke Snider by Isaac Barrow (Senior Writer) Duke Snider is one of the best Dodgers ever to play the game. He played for the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers from 1947 to 1962. He played left field and is one of the best power hitters in baseball history... Duke Snider is one of the best Dodgers ever to play the game. He played for the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers from 1947 to 1962. He played left field and is one of the best power hitters in baseball history. Edwin Donald Snider was born on Sept. 19, 1926 in Los Angeles. Snider was a two-sport athlete, playing football and baseball, which he ended up pretty good at (just thought I'd put it out there). He attended Compton High School from 1940 to 1943. As a baseball player, he was spotted by a Branch Rickey scout and was immediately signed to a minor league contract. He played for the Montreal Royals in 1944, but had just two at bats. In 1945, he was drafted and 1946 would be his first season in professional baseball. He played for Fort Worth that year and in 1947 played for St. Paul. He played quite well there and after starting 1948 for Montreal and tearing it up, he was called up to the Dodgers for good. Snider never made a lot of money in the bigs: "My high salary was 46,000 dollars and a Cadillac." In 1949, he made that step up. He hit 23 home runs, drove in 92 and had a .292 batting clip. Snider had an amazing 1950 season, hitting .321 with 30 one home runs and 107 runs knocked in. The next year, Snider folded under pressure as he saw his average dip 40 four points. "I told (Walter) O'Malley I wanted a trade. I couldn't take the pressure anymore." Snider, being the mentally tough guy he was, adapted. He hit .303 with 21 homers the next year and got management back on his side. The mid 50's were his glory days. He hit 40 or more home runs in five consecutive seasons (1953-57) and averaged 42 home runs, 124 RBI, 123 runs and a .320 batting average between 1953-1956. He dipped dramatically from 1958 to 1964. In 1958, he had 15 home runs and just 58 RBI, but still hit.312 on the season. When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, his fold under pressure became evident. In his remaining years with the Dodgers, his career high in homers was just 23. His career low in Brooklyn was 21. In 1963, Duke played for the Mets. He struggled and wasn't the slugger he was expected to be. He had 14 home runs, 45 RBI and a .243 batting average. On Opening Day of 1964, the Giants picked him up. He was obviously washed up. He had four home runs, 17 RBI and an anemic .210 batting average. 31 years later in 1995, two Hall of Famers: Snider and Willie McCovey pleaded guilty to tax fraud. Snider failed to report income from sports memorabilia sales and sports card shows. In 1980, Snider was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He finished his career with 407 home runs, 1,333 RBI and a .295 batting clip. Since Johnny Podres died in January, Snider is the only living Dodger who was on the field for the 1955 World Series. What I think is funny is how much of a joke he thinks baseball is today. He is sick of the millionaires in baseball. He said, "Man, if I made a million dollars, I'd come at six in the morning, sweep the stands, wash the uniforms, clean out the office, manage the team and play the games." What do you say to that, Manny? MFS62 Oct 28 2008 07:52 AM And not one mention about how, after he retired, Snider went on to be one of the biggest (in terms of crop volume) avacado growers in the country? Later AG/DC Oct 28 2008 07:59 AM It's admittedly a pretty weak piece for a guy tagged as a "senior writer." He gets three quotes from Snider --- wow, old timers are jealous of rich latter day players and think they're prima donnas; shocker! --- and seems to paste the rest togeher from wikipedia or the paper's obits-of-the-future file. He goes chronologically through the career, but his post-career detail includes a one-sentence paragraph about 1995 and then back to 1980. Barely C- work. You get a Hall-of-Famer on the phone, get some juice. Get him to fill in some historical detail that's not on the record. How about calling Manny Ramirez for a rebuttal? HahnSolo Oct 28 2008 09:11 AM Help me with my Duke knowledge. Wasn't he a Center fielder? why does the writer call him a left fielder in the open? AG/DC Oct 28 2008 09:18 AM Good point. The writer seems to be in an unswerving devotion to failing his reader. Snider broke in as a utility outfielder but never played left primarily. He might have landed there, but he quickly took over center when Pete Reiser battered himself into obscurity by running into outfield walls. He played a lot of right at the end of his career, but anybody who knows a bit about the guy would call him a centerfieder. G-Fafif Oct 28 2008 09:31 AM If Snider weren't a centerfielder, Terry Cashman would have written "Willie, Mickey and Whoever Flanked The Duke". Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 07:57 AM Rick White, getting in shape: Springfield News-Sun Ex-Ray, Phillie won't take sides Springfield's Rick White had stops in Tampa Bay and Philadelphia during his 13-year MLB career. By David Jablonski Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD � People ask Rick White all the time, "Do you miss the game?" It's a natural question to pose to a pitcher who appeared in 613 Major League Baseball games for 11 teams over a 13-year period. At this time of year, as he watches two of his former teams play each other in the World Series, the Springfield resident White can expect to hear the question even more often. "I don't miss anything but the game itself," White said on Tuesday, Oct. 28. "I miss being out there competing. I wish I was in one of those bullpens waiting for the phone to ring." White played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 1998, the year the expansion team entered the league, until July 2000 when he was traded to the Mets. In his 2� seasons in Tampa Bay, he compiled a 3.81 ERA in 248 innings. He still ranks eighth in franchise history in games pitched (145). None of the current Rays were with the team when White played for them, but he did play with assistant coaches Dave Martinez (1998-2000) and Tom Foley (with Pittsburgh in 1994). From 2001-07, Tampa Bay ranked last in AL attendance every season. But in its first two seasons, it ranked in the middle of the pack, and White remembers the early years for the franchise as an exciting time. "It was a lot of fun to be a part of that, to be part of something new," he said. "In my first three years, we had teams that were good enough to win. We just couldn't put the pieces together. We weren't able to stop those big losing streaks." White pitched for the Phillies in 2006, compiling a 4.34 ERA in 38 relief appearances. He threw well enough to come away with positive impressions of the notorious Phillies fans. Watching the games over the last week, White said he's not rooting for one team. "I've got a bunch of friends on both teams," he said. "Obviously, the Phillies haven't won it in a long time. It'd be nice for them to win it. I like the National League game better, but I would be fine with whoever won this one." White has not pitched since the end of the 2007 season. For the first time in his life, he was able to take his family on a summer vacation this year. Still, he hasn't given up on baseball. He plans to meet with some general managers after this season about getting into coaching or scouting. He also plans to get his arm in shape � just in case. "I highly doubt it, but my agent says to go ahead and work out and stay in shape," White said. "If somebody is interested, I'll try out. If not, I'll be in shape to throw batting practice." G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 07:59 AM When did Edgy DC come out of retirement? Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 08:07 AM Had to fly my Rube Walker flag. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 08:38 AM Not that there's ever a bad day for it, but any particular reason today is Rube Walker Appreciation Day? Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 08:51 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 29 2008 09:13 AM AG/DC is still working his way through Metly posting levels, while my alter ego Edgy DC, having surpassed 11,000, posts retains the permanent posting designation of his choice --- Rube Walker. When I saw Zvon had created a new avatar for that designation, I had to switch back to Edgy. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 08:54 AM Thank you for indulging the question. It's a very nice avatar. Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 08:54 AM It strikes me that, among multiple posting names here, at the old Crane Pool, and at the MOFo, I probably have over 100,000 posts, and have goofed off more than any internet poster in Metdom. Benjamin Grimm Oct 29 2008 09:08 AM My post total is second to yours, but I never reset myself to zero. My 20,000 or so posts includes the ezBoard totals as well as my name change. I think your biggest competition for all-time post leader might be Scarlett/Cookie Mom/metfairy/Inside Pitcher... Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 09:14 AM Scarlet put in a six-month retirement, but she certainly pre-dated me at the MOFo. I don't know how many handles she worked there. She also had a career at Grand Slam Single. Vic Sage Oct 29 2008 09:33 AM ah, yes, the GSS. I was banned there... a distinction i wear with honor. I don't even remember why. I think i tried to incite an insurrection against their overbearing administrators. SteveJRogers Oct 29 2008 09:44 AM ="Vic Sage":1f3jzt7s]ah, yes, the GSS. I was banned there... a distinction i wear with honor. I don't even remember why. I think i tried to incite an insurrection against their overbearing administrators.[/quote:1f3jzt7s] GSS is spoken of in the same terms quite often over at the MOFO. Kind of feel sorry I missed out on all that fun. metsguyinmichigan Oct 29 2008 09:58 AM As a relative newby, may I must ask what the MOFo is? Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 10:03 AM Mets Online Forum. This forum was established largely in response to a downclick in the level of discourse there. That's right, once we were trying to set a standard. Willets Point Oct 29 2008 10:07 AM MetsOnline itself was a fan-built website in the mid-90's that predated the Mets having a website. MetsOnline was killed by a cease & desist in 2002, although I think there may still be a bulletin board out there where they're calling themselves the MOFO. Benjamin Grimm Oct 29 2008 11:28 AM It sounds like Steve was talking about it in the present tense. SteveJRogers Oct 29 2008 12:34 PM I was referring to the BB that Willets mentioned. Several of the posters on the current MOFO were on GSS (yet another Met forum named after Ventura's infamous game winning hit in Game 5 1999 NLCS of course), and got the boot in the same fashion as Vic mentioned, for pretty much the same reasons. Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 12:43 PM Infamous? Are you a Braves fan? Steve seems to know more about the history of this place than I do, and I don't know hardly anything about him. Benjamin Grimm Oct 29 2008 12:51 PM Yeah, really. I wouldn't put Robin Ventura's game-winning shot in the same category as Pearl Harbor. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 04:15 PM ="Benjamin Grimm"]Yeah, really. I wouldn't put Robin Ventura's game-winning shot in the same category as Pearl Harbor. October 17, 1999: A date which will live in famy. A Boy Named Seo Oct 29 2008 04:21 PM Rogers was either going with the popular, but controversial Lucky Day/El Guapo definition of "infamous", or he's just gettin' all Chipper J. Jeets[/url:1drkl6im] on us. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 04:26 PM Steve's been everywhere, man... seawolf17 Oct 29 2008 05:39 PM ="A Boy Named Seo":1gbomtrk]Rogers was either going with the popular, but controversial Lucky Day/El Guapo definition of "infamous"[/quote:1gbomtrk] Hilarious. "Jefe? Do you know what is a plethora? Well, you told me I have a plethora. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has no idea what it means to have a plethora." One of the best movies ever. Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 05:45 PM Well, maybe one of the best million films ever. I can go for that. Kong76 Oct 29 2008 06:17 PM EDC: Steve seems to know more about the history of this place than I do, and I don't know hardly anything about him <<< StevieJStalker sees all! Frayed Knot Oct 29 2008 07:39 PM ="SteveJRogers":2nu9sgsu]Several of the posters on the current MOFO were on GSS and got the boot in the same fashion as Vic mentioned, for pretty much the same reasons.[/quote:2nu9sgsu] What Vic did to got booted (and me IIRC) had nothing to do with what others did. Edgy DC Oct 30 2008 10:58 AM Dan Reilly, knew when to keep his mouth shut. Check out the piping on ihs original uni. Villager photo by Will McKinleyDan Reilly, the original Mr. Met, at Shea Stadium recently. Reilly with his Mr. Met baseball head back in the mid-1960s when he was the team�s mascot at home games. Mr. Met recalls heady times as first mascot for Amazin�s By WILL McKINLEY Dozens of Mets legends were honored at Shea Stadium�s closing ceremony last month, from Tom Seaver to Mike Piazza and all the lesser lights in between. But one seminal figure in the team�s history was conspicuous by his absence. Dan Reilly, the first man to wear the costume of iconic mascot Mr. Met, watched the bittersweet festivities at home on TV like an ordinary fan. But the longtime Soho resident and author of the new book �The Original Mr. Met Remembers,� is anything but. �I�m disappointed they didn�t invite me back, but I�m not angry,� said Reilly, who played the Mets mascot on and off the field from 1964 through 1967, the first three of his nine years with the club. �Seaver, Koosman, Swoboda, all those guys were my buddies. And I figured they�d like to see me again, too, just to say hello, a few handshakes, keep in touch. They all still call me Mr. Met.� Now 70 and retired, Reilly�s ties with the team go back to Shea�s inaugural season, when he joined the Mets ticket sales staff two months before the debut of their new home. �It was a snowy February morning the day of my interview,� Reilly said last week, as he walked the grounds of the soon-to-be-demolished stadium. �From the outside, it looked like an orange-and-blue skeleton. Nothing was happening and nobody was around. Inside, they were still putting the seats in. And now I�m watching them take those seats out. It�s sad.� Sadness is not an emotion readily associated with Reilly, a jovial, outgoing raconteur who worked in the restaurant business after leaving the Mets in 1972, and recently concluded a four-year stint as the host of game-day ferry rides to Shea. On boat or barstool, the Richmond Hill, Queens, native spins colorful tales of the early days of the Amazin� Mets with a hearty laugh and, on this occasion, a misty eye. �We were a small organization back then, no superstars,� said Reilly, clad in a Mets jersey and still using �we� and �us� when referring to the team he left 36 years ago. �I drank with those guys. I knew where all the good Irish bars in Queens were. And I knew when to keep my mouth shut. That�s why everyone liked me.� Reilly was front and center for nearly all of the significant events of the team�s first decade: Shea�s first opening day; the 1964 All-Star Game; Casey Stengel�s on-field 75th birthday celebration and the infamous after-party at Toots Shor�s, where the legendary manager broke his hip and ended his career; the arrival of 1967 Rookie of the Year Seaver; the managerial tenure of Reilly�s boyhood idol Gil Hodges and, most memorably, the Miracle Mets World Series victory on Oct. 16, 1969. �As soon as that game was over, I ran from the press box down to the clubhouse,� Reilly said 39 years and one day later, as he traced the trajectory from the top of the stadium to the bottom with his finger. �There�s a picture of me in the 1970 yearbook, being doused with champagne by Jerry Grote. Those were my guys. They were the best.� In addition to his daily responsibilities, first in ticket sales and later in the promotions department, Reilly also served as the V.I.P. handler for visiting celebrities and politicians, ran the Mets Speakers Bureau program and filled in as public address announcer at Shea for three weeks in 1966. He also wished four members of a British rock band good luck as they ran on to the field for an August 1965 concert. �I said, �Break a leg, guys,� and one of them said, �Thanks mate!�� Reilly remembered. �I don�t know which one it was because I didn�t know who The Beatles were back then.� But Reilly�s fondest memories began on May 31, 1964, when he donned the papier-m�ch�, baseball-shaped head of the first mascot in Major League Baseball history. The Mets lost both sides of a doubleheader that day to the Giants, whose defection to California with the Brooklyn Dodgers after the 1957 season inspired attorney Bill Shea�s successful crusade to bring National League baseball back to New York. But, between games of that doubleheader, a star was born. �The stadium was packed and I was nervous,� Reilly said with a laugh. �They had told me to play it straight, just walk out there and wave, but the kids started swarming down to meet me in the stands. I shook hands, posed for pictures, signed autographs. After that, I got cocky and started dancing. It was an instant hit. Back then, the fans might not have recognized the players, but they always recognized Mr. Met.� As Reilly remembered the glories of four decades past, he struck up a conversation with a current Mets fan, 48-year-old software engineer Mark Szemberski, who was snapping photos of the now-shuttered stadium. �Of all people to meet, the last time I�m at Shea � Mr. Met!� Szemberski exclaimed, as he posed for a picture with the unlikely celebrity. �You made my day. I hope they invite you back when they open the new stadium.� Reilly handed Szemberski his business card, which features a photo of his younger self in a regulation Mets uniform, holding the outsized head that made him famous. The original Mr. Met is smiling broadly, as always. �Baseball is tradition,� Reilly said, as he bid final farewell to Shea from a departing 7 train. �Mr. Met touched people then, and he still does. I think it�s important to remember how we used to do it, what Shea used to be like. If we do, there will always be a Shea Stadium.� �The Original Mr. Met Remembers: When the Miracle Began� (138 pages) is available at iUniverse.com. HahnSolo Oct 30 2008 11:22 AM The uniform on the right suggests that photo is from '86 (racing stripes and anniversary logo), not from the early sixties. (I see Edgy beat me to that). soupcan Oct 30 2008 11:23 AM Yeah - something's wrong there. Benjamin Grimm Oct 30 2008 11:38 AM I'd guess that in 1986 he was just visiting with his old head. seawolf17 Oct 30 2008 12:07 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":36b19cxk]I'd guess that in 1986 he was just visiting with his old head.[/quote:36b19cxk] Possibly for a 25th anniversary event, which would make sense. Edgy DC Nov 03 2008 02:40 PM The High-A Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino (real name!) have announced their coaching staff, including John Valentin as batting coach and Charlie Hough as pitching coach. I confused Hough with Verne Ruhle and thought he was dead. Edgy DC Nov 10 2008 02:45 PM Candidates being looked at for the Seattle managerial job include Jose Oquendo, the prototype for Rey Ordoñez; Joey Cora, who managed for the Mets in the minors, and Randy Ready, who has one of the porniest names in baseball history. sharpie Nov 11 2008 11:36 AM Soon we can enjoy the literary stylings of Mike Piazza: Mike Piazza, a 12-time All Star for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets, has signed a deal to write his autobiography for Simon & Schuster. V-p and senior editor Bob Bender acquired world rights from David Black, CEO of Black Inc., and Dan Lozano, Piazza�s sports agent. Publication is slated for 2010. In the book, Piazza, who retired just before the 2008 season, will discuss controversies of his career, including the 2000 World Series incident when Roger Clemens threw a shattered bat at him, and the press conference he held to deny rumors that he was gay. The autobiography will also cover Piazza�s tumultuous relationships with the Dodgers, their front office and Tommy Lasorda; as well as his former teammates Bobby Valentine, Pedro Martinez, Rickey Henderson and others. Edgy DC Nov 11 2008 11:40 AM He actually retired well into the 2008 season when he hadn't gotten interest from anybody. And Bobby Valentine wasn't his teammate. Who writes press releases these days? John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 11 2008 11:47 AM Who cares. I'm going to read the hell out of that book. Edgy DC Nov 11 2008 11:52 AM If'n I were you, I contact that agent NOW!!!! and show him your writin' credentials. Benjamin Grimm Nov 11 2008 11:55 AM Good thought. Writing the hell out of the book would be even better than reading the hell out of it. HahnSolo Nov 11 2008 12:19 PM Knowing the publishing industry as I do, I can tell you that acquiring editor had absolutely no interest in the writin' credentials in the manuscript and cared primarily about the name on page 1. Benjamin Grimm Nov 11 2008 12:21 PM So Piazza now shops around for a ghost, I suppose? I figure he'll go with a sportswriter he had a good relationship with during his playing days. G-Fafif Nov 11 2008 12:23 PM Or a David Frum/Michael Gershon otherwise underemployed wordsmith of the right. Mike goes that way. HahnSolo Nov 11 2008 12:25 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":r3mb7fqz]So Piazza now shops around for a ghost, I suppose? I figure he'll go with a sportswriter he had a good relationship with during his playing days.[/quote:r3mb7fqz] I doubt Piazza does the shopping unless there's a writer he was really close to and insists on using him. Otherwise, I expect the literary agent would work with the publisher to find someone. Edgy DC Nov 11 2008 12:28 PM Which is fucking why you should be acting NOW!!!! G-Fafif Nov 11 2008 12:30 PM I'm Richie Hebner for another eight posts or so. I'm not going out of my way to pick up any ground balls for a little while. sharpie Nov 11 2008 12:32 PM David Black, the agent, reps many bigtime sportswriters (including Mitch Albom of "Tuesdays With Morrie" fame). Piazza would have already come attached with a writer by the time the deal was made. Benjamin Grimm Nov 11 2008 12:32 PM I don't want to stir up an ugly intramural competition, but GFafif should also throw his hat in the ring. G-Fafif Nov 11 2008 12:40 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":3prysgfg]I don't want to stir up an ugly intramural competition, but GFafif should also throw his hat in the ring.[/quote:3prysgfg] Thanks, but first I have to finish my "as told to myself" thing. After I stop being Richie Hebner. Edgy DC Nov 12 2008 10:23 AM Former Pitchers Leading Today's Brogna News: Hideo Nomo, teaching the forkball to young buffalos. Frank Viola, getting into the analyst game. Tom Seaver, advising the youth of today and liquoring up Tommy Davis. John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 12 2008 10:41 AM Read also where Leiter was joining the staff at MLB-TV. I guess that means he's leaving the NO! network. Edgy DC Nov 13 2008 08:14 AM So, if you're like me, you grew sick of stories of Lenny Dykstra, swinging finance trader, about two paragraphs into the first one, but now the angle isn't that he's just another player, but that he's actually flourishing during these hard times. The claim is that he's 82-0 in stock picks endorsed in his newsletter. Edgy DC Nov 13 2008 01:36 PM Rick Sweet returning as manager of the Louisville Bats. Local favorite Roger Mason joins the Traverse City Beach Bums as pitching coach. John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 13 2008 01:38 PM Ron Gardenhire gets an extension. Leiter btw, will still work for Al-Yankazeera. Reynolds tho is out at SNY, raising speculation that Bobby Ojeda is on his way in. I think I speak for everyone ever by saying it would be nice to mix a 73er or 99-00er in there. TransMonk Nov 13 2008 01:42 PM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket":1jn4n2h7]I think I speak for everyone ever by saying it would be nice to mix a 73er or 99-00er in there.[/quote:1jn4n2h7] Didn't Zeile get a shot once? Benjamin Grimm Nov 13 2008 01:44 PM I was thinking a 69er: Ron Swoboda. Edgy DC Nov 13 2008 05:02 PM Sam Perlozzo joins the Phils. Bang. metsguyinmichigan Nov 13 2008 11:01 PM ="Edgy DC":828l4i24]Rick Sweet returning as manager of the Louisville Bats. Local favorite Roger Mason joins the Traverse City Beach Bums as pitching coach.[/quote:828l4i24] Traverse City is a beautiful resort area about two hours north of me. The team is fairly new, and plays in an independent league. We used to play in an all-newspaper softball tournament in Traverse, and it was fun until the Detroit News took it over and started stacking its team with ringers who didn't work for the paper. Cads! I'll have to head up this summer and see a game and talk to Mason! Edgy DC Nov 14 2008 10:19 AM Holy Foli, Batman, it's Sammy Drake! In a Mets hat! An old friendship, forged 50 years ago, is rekindled AUGUSTA -- It was the New York Mets cap on his head. This being Red Sox country, people had to stop the athletic, older man this week and ask. "What's up with the hat?" That's when C. Wayne Mitchell glanced at his guest and stepped in. "This is Sammy Drake. Don't you know who he is?" No one did, to the amusement of both men. "He's an original member of the Mets," Mitchell would tell them. "He's my friend." It's a friendship forged nearly 50 years ago, interrupted by decades of separation and searching by Mitchell and resumed about four years ago. Mitchell's family, aware of his wish to reconnect, trolled the Internet, finding Drake at a Mets reunion in New Jersey. Sunday, Drake came to Mitchell's home in Sidney for a four-day visit. They laughed and joked and marveled again at the strength of a relationship neither fully understood when it began on a hot U.S. Army base in the deep south at a time when full integration was still a dream. Drake was a draftee from Little Rock, Ark. trying to keep alive his dream of playing major league baseball while he was serving his country. Mitchell was the 7-year-old son of a career soldier returned from duty in Germany and new to the Georgia base. That summer, the young boy discovered the Fort Gordon Rams and a young, talented infielder who asked Mitchell if he wanted to be the bat boy. "I could see he was interested in baseball," said Drake during lunch at a local restaurant Wednesday. Drake remembered when he fell in love with the game. The two played catch. Sometimes, Mitchell would go the base recreation center where Drake worked. They were so different in age and in race. Then, Mitchell was too young to understand what it meant to be a young black adult in Georgia. Drake, of course, did. A year or two after meeting, Mitchell's father was transferred to Taiwan. Mitchell got a baseball glove, a bat, a handshake, and much later, when he could fully understand, an outlook on life. "Of all the hello's and good-bye's, his was the one I remember most," said Mitchell, while Drake nodded. "I knew a thank-you would be in order." Mitchell's story to this point became a column I wrote four years ago. Then, I couldn't reach Drake who had returned to his home in Los Angeles. Wednesday, at lunch, I introduced myself. Meeting Mitchell wasn't a coincidence, Drake said. There was a reason that maybe still isn't clear 50 years later. Drake was surprised, but not stunned when Mitchell walked up to his table at the hotel where the Mets reunion and autograph session took place. He's met a lot of people in his 74 years and has usually found the goodness in them, even under trying circumstances. "At first I thought he as a typical fan," Drake said. "When he started talking about Fort Gordon I knew right away." Drake can't say he thought about Mitchell much over the years. Neither did he forget the young bat boy who would go to the gym to fold towels and stay out of the way of the soldiers.� "He would get picked on by the ballplayers a little bit. It was all in fun, but I could see it bothered him. I'd say, come with me. Let's play catch." Drake signed with the Chicago Cubs for $1,500 and was later assigned to Macon, Ga. to play for Pepper Martin in the so-called Sally League. He was the first African-American to play in the league he says. The most hurtful part of that season? "Not being able to sleep in the same hotels with my teammates. Not being able to eat with them. I could get carry-out or go across the river to a (black-owned restaurant.)" In the next breath, Drake tells of Martin's effort to get him seated with the team at a restaurant in Indiana. Martin, nicknamed the Wild Horse of the Osage, was a third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals' "Gashouse Gang" in the 1930s and colorblind. Drake remembers one of his first trips to spring training with the Cubs after his two years in the Army. He was one of three black ballplayers in a group of 50 minor leaguers were assigned to a barracks-style building. "Every night I would pray. They must have thought I was from another planet. "But I had a good spring training. When camp broke, everyone was on their knees praying but two." Monday, Mitchell and Drake had breakfast with Roger Katz, the mayor of Augusta and a baseball fan. Katz invited Drake to speak to the city council that night. He told the story of a Cubs tryout he attended in Winnipeg, Manitoba and the sore arm he had. He couldn't throw across the infield. Discouraged, he called the grandmother who raised him. Don't worry, he was told. She would pray for him. "We had a big snowstorm," said Drake smiling. "We couldn't use the field for two weeks. I soaked my arm in the bath tub every day. I was ready." The Mets drafted him off the Cubs roster. His two-year, major league career was the proverbial cup of coffee. In 53 games he hit .153. His older brother, Solly, played parts of three seasons with the Cubs, Phillies and Dodgers. Together, they were the first African-American brothers to play major league baseball. Early Thursday morning, Drake said good-bye to Mitchell and his wife, Bonnie, and began his trip back to Los Angeles. A graduate of Philander Smith College in Little Rock, he's a retired investigator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He teaches Sunday School at the Greater Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, where his brother, the Rev. Dr. Solomon Drake, is pastor to a 6,000-member congregation. They've listened to the story of how a young white boy and a young black adult became lasting friends. It shouldn't be forgotten. Edgy DC Nov 19 2008 10:38 AM Jack Aker, out of work and vulnerable like the rest of us. This old ballplayer understands life better than most by Rabbi Ben Kamin, Spiritual Life Examiner Jack Aker, a name known to aficionados of the national pastime, is something of a legend. But if his baseball card could talk, you�d hear a lot more than breezy play-by-play. Here�s a guy who made more appearances (495) as a relief pitcher than anybody in his time, but found himself taken out of the game quite before he expected. Like anybody suddenly not doing the thing we�ve been doing forever, Jack found himself looking down the abyss�he was tearful, anxious, and despondent. Baseball players are real people, in spite of the hype we impose on them, and their souls hurt, their spirits droop, just like all hard-working Americans. Jack won the Sporting News �Fireman of the Year� award in 1966 and played for the Kansas City and then Oakland Athletics, the Seattle Pilots, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, and New York Mets. When I met him some years ago, he was pitching coach of the Cleveland Indians; I caught my breath short, extending and receiving hands of friendship with a living and breathing major leaguer who was on a first-name basis with such stars as Phil Niekro and Tom Seaver. I saw him at his tallest. Arriving on the green natural field before game time, Jack came for me, in full regalia�snappy cap and shimmering team jacket. He walked across fresh, chalky baselines with a certain, lanky royalty. There were the first faint smells of popcorn and beer from the bowels from the bowels of the old stadium as the coach escorted me into the clubhouse. Jack took me into a comfortably large room filled with open booths that served as repositories for the players. �Here,� he declared, �we meet and discuss the game plan.� Like a knothole sentry, he walked past the colognes and hair dryers of the bath area towards a large bin containing thick, polished baseball bats. He said, somberly: �Nobody can touch a man�s bat. You see, Ben, they are numbered according to his uniform number. The bat is a very personal matter to a guy. Nobody can touch it.� I understood what a sacrilege was and I shook my head in awe of power and success. A little over a year later, following a season of fallen expectations and profits, Jack (and the team manager) were both summarily dismissed from their positions. Now, this same Jack, record-holder, my invincible hero, sat in the front of my automobile, shoulders slumped, his head in his hands. We were taking a ride in the country as the venerable coach tried to sort things out. His prestige, his income, and his self-image were suddenly as powdery as the faded chalk lines of that emerald ball field he had once ruled. Jack was gone, the manager was gone, as well as a number of the muscular, sleek, swaggering players I had met that shining afternoon�in a different season. A person is so much more than his baseball card, her resume, his cellular list of �contacts.� Jack is doing okay, taking in his children and grandchildren, knowing well what it means to be laid off, discarded, discontinued. Maybe this old ballplayer understands America right now better than most. MFS62 Nov 19 2008 11:00 AM Thank you, Edgy. Anyone who ever lost a job knows that you didn't have to bold that portion. We would have noticed it and commiserated(sp?) with Jack. But the way it was said was an unexpected pleasure in a piece like that, wasn't it? Later Edgy DC Nov 19 2008 11:03 AM I was just imitating the original publishing, which set it as a pullquote. Farmer Ted Nov 19 2008 12:07 PM Tim Foli will return to manage Washington's Class AAA affiliate in 2009. Met Hunter Nov 19 2008 10:37 PM John Stearns will be back managing the Nats AA team in Harrisburg as well. Benjamin Grimm Nov 20 2008 06:14 AM Tim Bogar was among three who interviewed for a spot on the Phillies coaching staff. The problem is, they thought they were interviewing Doug Flynn. Edgy DC Nov 21 2008 10:06 AM John Nunnaly, batting coach with the Columbus Clippers. Edgy DC Nov 23 2008 08:56 PM Jeff Innis, Cape Cod League Hall-of-Famer. Edgy DC Nov 28 2008 11:45 AM Tim Bogar formally accepts the Red Sox offer to coach first. John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 28 2008 12:37 PM The last 5 or 6 messages belong in that other thread. Edgy DC Dec 04 2008 10:34 AM I consider coaching jobs part of retirement. Rico's was a coaching job. I hear you, though. Nonetheless, I'm sticking with it for one more thread, as Joe McEwing takes over the Winston-Salem Former Warthogs. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 04 2008 10:43 AM Just for that it's my duty to report that Jason Hardtke has been named hitting coach of the Missoula Osprey (Dbaggs -Pioneer League). The Baggs also named Brett Butler manager of the Reno Aces (PCL). G-Fafif Dec 04 2008 01:04 PM I once received a letter letting me know Brett Butler would come and speak to my employees and motivate them with his life experiences and faith in Christ for only $20,000. How much is each Ace going to have to ante up for the privilege? Edgy DC Dec 16 2008 09:38 AM West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff. Benjamin Grimm Dec 16 2008 09:56 AM You must have overlooked Jerry Cram in your Google subscription: ="Our Sports Central":3gap6pnt] SAN JOSE, CALIF December 15, 2008- The San Jose Giants announced their 2009 coaching staff today with Andy Skeels joining the club as manager, Jerry Cram as pitching coach and Gary Davenport returning as hitting coach. Yukiya Oba also returns as the team's athletic trainer. ... Jerry Cram is familiar with San Jose after spending three years as the Giants pitching coach from 2001-2003. The former major leaguer is now entering his ninth season in the San Francisco organization after working the last five years (2004-2008) as pitching coach of the Salem- Keizer Volcanoes (Short-Season). During his time in the Giants farm system, Cram's teams have won three league championships: San Jose in 2001 and Salem-Keizer in 2006 and 2007. Cram spent parts of four seasons in the major leagues with the Kansas City Royals (1969, 1976) and New York Mets (1974-1975), compiling a 0-3 record and 2.98 ERA over 23 career appearances. Cram has devoted 28 years to the Kansas City organization, the last 14 as a pitching instructor, in a tenure that ended in 1997. Cram then spent three seasons as a pitching coach in the Colorado Rockies minor league system before joining the San Francisco organization prior to the 2001 campaign. ... The San Jose Giants open their 2009 season on Thursday, April 9th at Municipal Stadium vs. the Stockton Ports. The Opening Night Extravaganza will include a post-game fireworks display, 2009 magnet schedule giveaway, the return of Gigante and much more. [/quote:3gap6pnt] metsguyinmichigan Dec 16 2008 12:29 PM ="Edgy DC":3l94882y]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:3l94882y] The Whitecaps have a thing on Sunday afternoons where you can either go on the field to play catch, or go near the dugout where all the players stand in a line and sign autographs. (kids get a free soda and hot dog, too. We got to a lot of Sunday games.) So last year I brought my treasured Mets book, sought out DePastino to sign it and tried to talk to him about his short Mets tenure. Even though there was no one else around and nothing going on, he had absolutely nothing to say. Was disappointed. Maybe I'll have better luck with Benny. G-Fafif Dec 16 2008 12:37 PM ="Edgy DC":1sfgljfz]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:1sfgljfz] What's Distefano's Met pedigree (other than breaking up David Cone's no-hitter?) At least this will give Distefano and DePastino a chance to exchange each other's misdirected mail. Benjamin Grimm Dec 16 2008 12:49 PM He was a replacement player with the Mets in spring training 1995. G-Fafif Dec 16 2008 12:59 PM Now that you say it, it sounds remotely familiar though I have to confess I might have missed it on a multiple choice. Any other ex-big leaguers in that camp? metsguyinmichigan Dec 16 2008 02:07 PM Stan Jefferson, I think. I saw a couple of those spring games. HahnSolo Dec 16 2008 02:25 PM ="G-Fafif":1lmhw7l1]="Edgy DC":1lmhw7l1]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:1lmhw7l1] What's Distefano's Met pedigree (other than breaking up David Cone's no-hitter?) At least this will give Distefano and DePastino a chance to exchange each other's misdirected mail.[/quote:1lmhw7l1] Italian restaurants in West Michigan are scurrying to bid for the postgame spread. HahnSolo Dec 16 2008 02:26 PM ="metsguyinmichigan":2a90z7f9]Stan Jefferson, I think. I saw a couple of those spring games.[/quote:2a90z7f9] Two guys I went to high school with, Cliff Gonzalez (8th round pick of the Mets in '85) and Chris Walpole, were in that camp. Gonzalez and Jefferson knew each other having both been from Co-op City. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 17 2008 09:11 AM ] DYKSTRA DROPS THE BALL By KEITH J. KELLY December 17, 2008 -- FORMER New York Mets out fielder Lenny Dykstra appears to be striking out with his magazine, Players Club. Dykstra, who helped the 1986 Mets capture the World Series before landing with the Philadelphia Phillies, is leaving behind a string of unpaid bills and a constant parade of shifting editors and office addresses. In the latest upheaval, Chris Frankie, the acting editor, resigned Dec. 4 along with two other staffers. Now Loren Feldman, former editor-in-chief of Philadelphia magazine, is said to be ready to join as the new chief editor. "Loren Feldman is the new editor," said Dykstra. Meanwhile, Frankie says he's owed back pay. But Dykstra sees things differently: "That's not true. Frankie owes me money. Whatever he's talking about is delusional." Counters Frankie, "That's beyond ridiculous. How could an employee owe an employer money?" Beyond three months' back pay, Frankie said he's also owed for business expenses. Frankie, who had originally helped Dykstra write the TheStreet.com's "Nails on the Numbers" column, got the editor job in August after Dykstra's talks with Neil Amdur, a former sports editor at The New York Times, collapsed at the last minute after a fight over Amdur's ability to hire deputies. "I did fly out there for a meeting with Dykstra about the editor's job," Amdur confirmed. "I spent a couple of days with him. He did offer me the job." The last issue of Players Club was published in October, and the November issue will now be combined into a year-end double issue that has yet to appear. His aim with the magazine was to help professional athletes make sensible investments with the money they earn from sports to ensure they don't go broke when their pro careers end. But present and former staffers say that Dykstra, who during his days with Major League Baseball had the nickname "Nails," is tough as nails when it comes to paying his staff or vendors. Frequently, sources said, he got staff to use their own credit cards to pay for ex penses related to the maga zine, and took months to re imburse the employees. Although the magazine is less than a year old, it has al ready had four different printers and three different editors. Several vendors have also stopped doing business with the magazine. The latest vendor to suspend business is Getty Images, which sources say is owed around $40,000. Dykstra claims that's not true. "I have a great relationship with them," he said of Getty. One source who's worked closely with Dykstra said he "has a haphazard way of paying - he just wires you money." "It's always that the money is just about to come in and everyone will be paid," this person said, adding that if someone demands payment, then Dykstra turns on them. "If you demand payment, then you are the enemy. "He always feels abandoned by people, but he doesn't seem to realize that he's the reason people abandon him." Frayed Knot Dec 17 2008 09:24 AM This surprises me not. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 17 2008 09:26 AM Gotta love the irony in this venture being all about athletes spending wisely. Edgy DC Dec 17 2008 09:26 AM Another day, another house of cards. Edgy DC Dec 22 2008 03:04 PM Aaron Ledesma, infield coach for the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees. The Yankees get a AAA infield coach? What a ripoff! Frayed Knot Dec 22 2008 07:36 PM Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore. Edgy DC Dec 26 2008 08:28 AM DJ has no regrets. Of course he doesn't. He got to be a Met. D.J. Dozier had a Bo Jackson-like versatility Posted to: 50 Greatest Sports By Ed Miller The Virginian-Pilot As William, Bill, or even Billy, it just would not have worked as well. William Henry "D.J." Dozier would have been no less the athlete without that alliterative name, smooth as one of his touchdown runs or fielding gems at shortstop. That name - "D.J. Dozier" - was the shiny bow on top of the package of prep stardom. And Dozier was the complete package: a three-sport standout at Kempsville High, wooed by virtually every major football program in the country, coveted by virtually every pro baseball scout. Virginia Tech coach Bill Dooley came to the Norfolk Sports Club in December 1982 and made a public pitch for Dozier, something that would not be allowed under recruiting rules today, when coaches can't woo prospects through the media. Major league teams waved dollar signs in front of him, trying to convince him to skip football and play baseball. Dozier, No. 12 on the list of greatest athletes from South Hampton Roads, chose football - and Penn State. Later, after several years in the NFL, he reversed course and picked up a bat and glove. Good enough to briefly make it to the majors, he was, in an era of two-sport dabblers, a local, lower-wattage version of guys such as Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders. "Obviously, when you look at the statistics, the numbers are certainly not what I hoped they would have been," said Dozier, now 43 and back in Virginia Beach working as a business consultant. "But the fact that I had the opportunity to go that far with what I would call God-given ability is a tremendous blessing." A dynamo at Penn State, Dozier forever will be a made man among Nittany Lion greats after leading the team in rushing four straight years, earning All-America honors twice and scoring the winning touchdown in a national championship victory over Miami. Things never clicked for him in the NFL, though. A first-round pick, Dozier missed time with injuries and didn't like the way the Vikings were using him - which was not too often. After three years, he signed with the Mets and began the climb through the minors in 1990. Meanwhile, contract talks with the Vikings stalled. Dozier finally re-signed with them halfway through the 1990 season. Dozier finished out that season and played six games with Detroit in 1991. With his baseball career seemingly blossoming, he left football behind. He would play just 25 games for the Mets, though, in 1992. In 1994, at 28, he moved on with his life, retiring from baseball. Dozier has coached, traveled the world doing missionary work, worked as a financial planner and investment banker. He moved back to Virginia recently from Allentown, Pa. He brought with him no regrets. Dozier said he remembered a former Kempsville teammate who played at Lock Haven University. Dozier knew he was good enough to play at Penn State and told his coaches. They offered him a chance to come to Happy Valley. In the end, though, the friend chose the security of staying at Lock Haven, later second-guessing his decision not to take his shot. "I never forgot what he told me about the regret part of it," Dozier said. "That's what it was for me with baseball. I look at it as something that was a bit nuts, but I really felt that I could do it. "The biggest thing about it is I didn't want to look back and regret not trying." He'll never have to. Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372 ed.miller@pilotonline.com metsguyinmichigan Dec 26 2008 11:17 AM That's a nice story! Plus, I'd forgotten how nasty those old Tides caps were. G-Fafif Dec 26 2008 01:32 PM ="Frayed Knot":34ueq9bz]Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore.[/quote:34ueq9bz] How do you suppose he'll greet his new players...or monstrously huge batboy? themetfairy Dec 26 2008 02:12 PM ="G-Fafif":1emwxaju]="Frayed Knot":1emwxaju]Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore.[/quote:1emwxaju] How do you suppose he'll greet his new players...or monstrously huge batboy?[/quote:1emwxaju] No - just with a simple, "Welcome Abordick," of course! Edgy DC Dec 30 2008 07:42 AM Felix Mantilla, spreading the good chromosomes around. Mantilla earning court time at Yale December 30, 2008 NEWS-SUN STAFF REPORT Mundelein High grad Raffi Mantilla has worked his way into the playing rotation for the Yale University men's basketball team. The sophomore guard has played in all eight Bulldog games (2-6 record), and is averaging nearly 10 minutes of action each game. He's scored a total of 18 points in those eight contests. Mantilla is the grandson of former major-league baseball player Felix Mantilla, who played with the Milwaukee Braves, New York Mets and Boston Red Sox in a long pro career. MFS62 Jan 03 2009 02:29 PM In keeping with the three name thread in the non-baseball forum, I'll always remember him as Felix Lamela Mantilla. (I dunno why, but his middle name always stuck in my mind) Later Edgy DC Jan 03 2009 02:31 PM Yup, and time to retire Brogna 2008.

Gotta love though how two writers for the Daily Snooze have mixed signals on Kingman's attendance this weekend! I mean I'm sure he must have had a change in heart (money, pressure, whatever it could have been) between the McCarron piece and the Rubin blog, but it is still funny.

="Adam Rubin":2soo7ohx]It�s believed a torch may go from Shea Stadium to Citi Field.[/quote:2soo7ohx] And how will that be tamer and less cheezy than bringing out team and/or stadium employees as "ghosts" of long dead players and managers? metirish Sep 23 2008 09:54 AM A torch like the Olympic torch?....will there be protesters ? SteveJRogers Sep 23 2008 09:55 AM Gotta love though how two writers for the Daily Snooze have mixed signals on Kingman's attendance this weekend! I mean I'm sure he must have had a change in heart (money, pressure, whatever it could have been) between the McCarron piece and the Rubin blog, but it is still funny. SteveJRogers Sep 23 2008 09:55 AM ="metirish":17v811sj]A torch like the Olympic torch?....will there be protesters ?[/quote:17v811sj] Sure, the gang from Loge13.com and their buddies in the Iron Triangle! HahnSolo Sep 23 2008 10:47 AM ="SteveJRogers":nytpgns8]="Adam Rubin":nytpgns8]It�s believed a torch may go from Shea Stadium to Citi Field.[/quote:nytpgns8] And how will that be tamer and less cheezy than bringing out team and/or stadium employees as "ghosts" of long dead players and managers?[/quote:nytpgns8] You're kidding, right? Benjamin Grimm Sep 23 2008 10:51 AM Wait... what? Did the Yankees really have the soda vending guy dressed up as the ghost of Lou Gehrig? And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? (I have to confess: I know nothing about how the Yankees celebrated the closing of their ballpark. I didn't watch and didn't read any of the accounts.) HahnSolo Sep 23 2008 10:53 AM Yes. And Yes. metirish Sep 23 2008 11:02 AM I read something about forcing 105 year old Julia Ruth Stevens (Babe's daughter) to throw out the first pitch , wanting everything to look wonderful Hank had her warm up in the bullpen before hand. soupcan Sep 23 2008 11:27 AM I've got questions. When the soda guy/ghost of Lou Gehrig was introduced, was the rain-like applause hard or soft? Also - when the ghost of Bill Dickey came out, was he able to catch Babe Ruth's non-blood relative's first pitch while still holding his tray of cotton candy? Benjamin Grimm Sep 23 2008 11:30 AM You're making it all sound so... so... cheesy! seawolf17 Sep 23 2008 12:51 PM ="soupcan":7nnlxn67]Also - when the ghost of Bill Dickey came out, was he able to catch Babe Ruth's non-blood relative's first pitch while still holding his tray of cotton candy?[/quote:7nnlxn67] No, but he did get docked pay for missing an hour's worth of selling time. Dude didn't make his quota for the day. SteveJRogers Sep 23 2008 02:53 PM ="Benjamin Grimm"] And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? Well an actual torch would be. Symbolic, like home plate, different story. soupcan Sep 23 2008 02:57 PM ="SteveJRogers"]="Benjamin Grimm"] And if so, is Steve actually saying that anything else can possibly be remotely as cheesy? Well an actual torch would be. Symbolic, like home plate, different story. Since when are you the arbiter of all things cheesy or non? A torch, while a bit odd I admit, is nowhere near as stupid as bringing out hot dog hawkers dressed as legendary ballplayers. AG/DC Sep 29 2008 09:23 AM Now and perhaps forever: the only Tracy in Mets History. LOCAL LEGENDS: Coeburn High School�s Tracy Stallard Published: September 28, 2008 BY TIM HAYES BRISTOL HERALD COURIER It�s both unfair and unfortunate that Tracy Stallard�s baseball career has come to be defined by one moment. He never lost a game while pitching at Coeburn High School and his exploits are the stuff of legend in Wise County. He put together a respectable seven-season career in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. Yet, despite all those accomplishments, Stallard is still remembered most for one moment. One pitch. One game. It occurred on the final day of the 1961 regular season at Yankee Stadium. Stallard was 23-years-old and in his second season in the big leagues with Boston. He appeared in 43 games that summer for the Red Sox, shuffling between the bullpen and the starting rotation. Boston manager Pinky Higgins decided to start the young right-hander in the final game of the season against a potent New York Yankees lineup. He was solid through three innings and started the fourth inning by striking out Tony Kubek. Then Roger Maris stepped into the batter�s box. Maris had tied Babe Ruth�s single-season home run record of 60, and this game represented his final chance to surpass a mark that had stood for 34 years. In the fourth, he blasted a Stallard pitch down the right-field line. The ball soared into the stands, Maris placed his name in the record book and Stallard forever became the answer to a trivia question. While Stallard and Maris will be eternally linked because of that pitch, there�s more to the Stallard story. Much more. The native son Carroll Dale was a standout athlete in high school during the mid-1950s. The Wise native was so good, in fact, that he went on to play football at Virginia Tech and eventually earned two Super Bowl titles as a wide receiver with the Green Bay Packers. But there was a pitcher at rival Coeburn that Dale and many others just couldn�t solve. �I know every time we played Coeburn, he would have 16 or 17 strikeouts and that was it,� Dale said. �I don�t think anybody was very competitive when he was pitching.� That pitcher was Stallard, and many players went down swinging at his fastball for four unbeaten years. His best season with the Blue Knights came as a senior, when he went 8-0 and tossed two no-hitters. Those numbers earned him a spot in the Virginia High School League Hall of Fame in 2005. His performance also attracted major-league scouts. He signed with the Red Sox in 1956, thus beginning his professional career. Stallard starred in the minor leagues and made his big league debut on Sept. 24, 1960, at Cleveland Stadium. In the ninth inning of Boston�s 11-7 loss to the Cleveland Indians, Stallard entered and worked a scoreless inning. He registered his first major-league strikeout during that outing, fanning Woodie Held for the second out. Back in Coeburn, it was a big deal. �It was a very proud town,� Coeburn resident Steve Hubbard Sr. recalled. Stallard also saw a familiar face when he arrived in Boston. Scott County native Dave Hillman was also a pitcher for Boston, and the duo gave the Red Sox the distinction of having two Southwest Virginia natives on the roster at the same time. �He was a great teammate,� Hillman said. �We had quite a few conversations in the bullpen and everywhere else in Boston about pitching � He could pitch, and he had good stuff.� The moment Stallard appeared in four games for Boston in 1960. The next year he compiled a 2-7 record and a 4.88 ERA and allowed 15 home runs, including the one on Oct. 1 that proved to be historically significant. But there are some things that many people forget or simply don�t know about his encounter with Maris. Maris� solo blast was the only run Stallard allowed in seven innings that day in Boston�s 1-0 loss. It was also the only hit Maris had in seven career at-bats against Stallard. Stallard also played five more seasons in the majors after that fateful day at Yankee Stadium. After pitching in just one game for the Red Sox in 1962, Stallard was traded to the New York Mets, along with Al Moran and Pumpsie Green, for Felix Mantilla. Stallard�s stats weren�t too impressive during those two seasons in New York � he went 6-17 with a 4.71 ERA in 1963 and 10-20 with a 3.79 ERA in 1964 � but keep in mind that the Mets lost a combined 220 games those two seasons, so he didn�t have much run support. For instance, in a August 4, 1964 game against the San Francisco Giants, Stallard allowed just one earned run in 10 1/3 innings. Yet, he settled for no decision, and the Mets eventually lost 4-3 in 14 innings. Earlier that season in a game at Shea Stadium, Stallard was again on the wrong side of history. He was the losing pitcher on June 21, when Philadelphia�s Jim Bunning tossed a perfect game against the Mets. Stallard would be on the move again in 1964 as he and Elio Chacon were dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Gordie Richardson and Johnny Lewis. Stallard had his best season in the summer of 1964, going 11-8 with a 3.38 ERA in 40 games (26 starts) for the Cardinals. He was in the same rotation as Bob Gibson, and his battery mates included Tim McCarver and Bob Uecker. One year later, Stallard went 1-5 with a 5.68 ERA for the Cardinals. It was his final season in the majors. His final tally was a 30-57 record with four saves and a 4.17 ERA in 183 major league games. He also fared well against some of the league�s greatest hitters. Willie Mays hit just .200 and struck out six times in 30 at-bats against the kid from Coeburn, while Harmon Killebrew, Mickey Mantle and Ernie Banks were also among his strikeout victims. These days The 71-year-old Stallard keeps a low profile these days. In fact, numerous attempts to reach him for this story were unsuccessful. He is still competitive, as evidenced by the fact he competes in several area golf tournaments. This summer, he won the super seniors division at a prestigious tournament at Lonesome Pine Country Club in Big Stone Gap. Maris� record was broken in 1998 and now ranks just seventh all-time on the single-season home run list. Still, Maris and Stallard will be forever linked in baseball history because of that one moment in 1961. thayes@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2570 John Cougar Lunchbucket Sep 29 2008 09:30 AM Shame on Stallard for making Tim Hayes write that story without his contribution. I read where Stallard was quite the dashing young stud around the city. AG/DC Sep 29 2008 09:42 AM Decent job grinding it out anyhow by young Hayes. AG/DC Oct 06 2008 03:01 PM Rusty Tillman is: a former Mets outfielder claiming to be Jose Canseco's first source for steroids homeless and living in the woodsBridget Murphy of the The Florida Times Union joins the Rico Brogna Journalism All Star Team. From pro-baseball to homeless Hometown baseball hero Rusty Tillman lived a life many dream about. Now he calls a tent his home. By The Times-Union Story by BRIDGET MURPHY Photos by JON M. FLETCHER "It's not like they put a sign out there, 'This is where Rusty Tillman's ball landed.' " The ex-slugger is playing down his glory days from a bench in the away dugout at Fletcher High School. But Kerry Jerome "Rusty" Tillman is basking in not-so-secret pleasure as an old schoolmate is doing his best to resurrect one day in particular. JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Rusty Tillman holds his 2-year-old daughter Sarah during an afternoon visit. While circumstances have left Tillman homeless in Mayport, he tries to make it a habit to visit his daughter daily.It was a Senators home game, must have been 1977, Fletcher Athletic Director Joe Reynolds remembers. A slender 17-year-old in a white-and-purple uniform stepped up to the plate. Then with a crack of wood on stitched leather, Tillman ripped a moon shot. Fans at the Neptune Beach school swarmed the fence to watch the rocket rise up, up and over the outfield wall. Reynolds was coaching on the track and sent one of his runners after the baseball. He says no one has smashed one so far since. Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal.Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal.Rusty Tillman was a baseball star from Fletcher High School who made it to the major leagues. Now he's homeless. He attributes part of his downfall to baseball's steroids scandal."I remember where I was when President Kennedy was killed," Reynolds says. "... I remember when he hit that baseball." The story means the world to Tillman, now 48. Now homeless. He is desperate to cling to the things that are good in his life. Even if he has to flash back 30 years to find them. Those were the days when Chuck Fisette, a lefty who threw 94-mph "smoke" for the Senators, said pitchers cringed when Tillman came up to bat. "You knew he was going to hit it out of the park. You just didn't know how far or in what direction," said the now-veteran Jacksonville corrections officer. By the time Tillman graduated, he'd turned down a Cincinnati Reds offer. But nobody knew how far Tillman would go. Or later, after his 1979 selection by the New York Mets and time on two other major league teams, how far he would fall. Or the kind of secrets he was keeping. Most people still don't know. Because while Reynolds and Tillman were reminiscing in the dugout that July morning, Reynolds had no idea that Tillman was living in a tent in the woods a few miles away. He had no idea that Tillman had been a visitor at Fisette's workplace in recent years, or that he was selling his blood plasma to buy his only luxuries: cell phone minutes, Copenhagen snuff and Sonic banana smoothies. JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Tillman in a 1977-78 Fletcher High School yearbook.Sometimes Tillman also splurged on bug spray. It saved his skin from the blood-suckers that left itchy reminders he had an address marked only by the tags surveyors left on trees. 'Tillman Country Club' Somebody's watchdogs tattle on Tillman as he sneaks through a hole in the fence behind Mayport apartments. But the intruder doesn't hesitate. He rolls his bicycle into knee-high weeds, away from manicured lawns, away from painted parking spots and dead-bolted doors, away from everything else there is for anybody to protect. When the animals sense it, the barking stops. At 6 feet tall and about 200 pounds, it's mostly the creatures that slither in the grass that worry Tillman in the woods. The muscles that served him in pro ball - a bulk strangely still there - won't help with a snakebite. He carries a flashlight at night to spot snakes and zips the opening of his gray tent to keep them out. A blue tarp on top of that tent was all the protection Tillman had during Tropical Storm Fay in August. He stayed put even after two trees crashed onto the tents of homeless friends who left. "Living out here, I have learned a lot," he says. "I never thought I'd be here. I guess once I get back, I'll learn to appreciate what I had." Tillman calls the maroon mountain bike that a pastor gave him - after a promise he wasn't on drugs - his "Escalade." He says he's been clean at least three months. Tillman parks the bike in front of the camp he calls "Tillman Country Club." His belongings include blankets, a radio and a battery-operated unit that delivers shock therapy to his sports-worn knees. He sleeps next to a saw blade and a kitchen knife for protection. Tillman also has a portable TV. He powers it with a car battery that needs a recharge every four days. He has nothing left from his baseball days. No player cards. No uniform caps. No money. Tillman is a man whose family wants to help - begs to help. He is a man with smarts, with guts, with pride - yes, plenty of that. It is the piston that drives him to believe that after his journey, as he says, "from the penthouse to the craphouse," he will get his life together without charity. He knows there is a prize waiting for him when he does. Her name is Sarah Tillman. She turned 2 last month. Nearly every evening, Tillman pedals from his camp to her mother's home in the posh Selva Marina section of Atlantic Beach. Then the father tucks the toddler into bed and slips back into the woods. "I'll probably die from worrying someday," Tillman says by his tent on the kind of summer afternoon that demands air conditioning and cool drinks. "I think what keeps me going now is seeing my daughter graduate from high school." If Tillman makes it to Sarah's elementary school days, he says there will be another reward too: a Major League Baseball pension of about $35,000 a year. Kate Weatherby, Sarah's mother and Tillman's ex-girlfriend, says there's nothing she can do to help him in the meantime. "He knows what he needs to do to get things in order. It's making the choice to do that," she says. But how does a hometown hero who rises to a champagne life skid to the streets? There were fast times and women, divorces and drugs, is how Tillman tells it. Then there were secrets about the drugs, some Tillman said never should have come out. Even after he bottomed out, Tillman said he never sold out his baseball family to make a buck. Instead, he accepted it as his short-lived fame slipped away with his modest fortune. Instead, he fumed as he watched ex-Oakland Athletics teammate Jose Canseco rake in attention and money with two books about baseball's steroids scandal. Tillman said four teammates, including Canseco, bought and used the steroids Tillman smuggled from Mexico when he played for the A's. It was 1986, a year after the Mets traded Tillman and he ended up in Oakland. Bringing the 'juice' Once his steroids confession starts spilling out, Tillman makes it clear he's not naming names like Canseco did. Tillman sees himself as a backup outfielder who knew how to take one for the team. "The code is whatever you do, you're on your own. I'm not going to take you down with me. I didn't get the time that these guys got. But I was one of the lucky ones who got to be around these guys. And I kept my mouth shut." Canseco didn't mention Tillman in his two books and didn't respond to interview requests through his attorney, Gregory Emerson. In his 2008 book Vindicated, Canseco describes getting his first steroids in 1984 from a weight-lifter friend from high school. "I was his first in major leagues," Tillman says. "... I'm the one who started bringing it from Mexico." Tillman said he got the steroids when he'd make extra money playing in a Mexican pro league in the off-season. He started using them after a torn rotator cuff sidelined him. He'd already suffered through a wrist injury, getting so many cortisone shots that his black skin turned white around the injection site. Tillman also had multiple knee surgeries. The steroids were cheap and easy to buy at Mexican pharmacies. And they got results. When Tillman took charter flights back to America, he said no one would check a pro ball player's bags. When his steroids supply ran low, someone he trusted crossed the border and brought him more. The person he named refused to do a Times-Union interview. "It wasn't that I was trying to make money on this," Tillman explains of the 30 to 40 boxes he said he sold for $400 or $500 each. "It was for the family." He took a shot a week, something to give him an edge so he was ready to come off the bench. "A lot of people think it's cheating, but if you don't go out there and perform, they're going to say you're a bum." In March 1987, the A's released Tillman after 11 months and 22 games. His best highlight came off a pitch from Hall of Fame lefty Steve Carlton that he hit out of the park in a game against the White Sox on Sept. 23, 1986. By 1988, Tillman was with the San Francisco Giants, when he hit his second and last home run in the majors. After that, he went back to the minors and was expecting another call-up after a hitting streak. But the call never came. While Tillman said no one ever caught him, accused him or arrested him for steroids, he suspects the game blackballed him for it. "Word might have gotten around that the real Juiceman was here," he said. In the 1990s, Tillman went back to Mexico, helping lead his team in Tabasco to a 1993 championship. In all, he had played 38 games in the majors, 11 seasons in the minors and about six seasons abroad. Tillman says he made maybe a half-million dollars in all and has no regrets about steroids or anything else. "There's a dark side of all of sports. What I done is what I done." Back to work In early August, Tillman got a job in the kitchen of a seafood place in Jacksonville Beach. After more than a year on the streets, there was joy in his voice as he prepared for his first shift. "We'll see how it goes," he said. "I mean, I'm blessed for what I got." JON M. FLETCHER/The Times-Union Rusty Tillman at his campsite in the Mayport area with the portable television he powers off a car battery in his tent.Hugh Palmer, a social worker at the mission where the ex-athlete eats and showers, said Tillman doesn't talk about his past. He said Tillman has an unusual mix of humility and confidence that makes him stand out among his peers. "To see a homeless person that's kind of larger than life, that just goes back to homelessness can happen to anyone," Palmer said. Tillman has plenty of job experience outside of baseball. He's had a few jobs in food service, including cooking for the Jaguars at their downtown stadium last season. In the late 1990s, he worked as a heavy equipment operator in Jacksonville. At the time, he was married to his second wife, Alycia Tillman. The 34-year-old divorcee called her ex-husband, who also has two grown sons from prior relationships, a good provider who worked a second job at Krystal to make extra money. The two of them went to work renovating his grandmother's home on the block he grew up on in Atlantic Beach, after marrying in 1999. It was a few doors from the home where Tillman's late father, a Jacksonville Beach city mechanic, and late mother, a school custodian, raised him, his three brothers and his sister. But Alycia Tillman said her husband started indulging a drug addiction when the two moved back to his hometown. Tillman said he had his own reasons for their split. When a judge granted the uncontested divorce in 2003, a copy of the order he mailed to Tillman came back marked like this: "Tillman moved. Left no address. Unable to forward. Return to sender." In September, Alycia Tillman said she was shocked to hear that her ex was living in the woods. "If I'd known he was in that situation, he could have come to me. If it's not Kerry's way," she said, using Tillman's given name, "he just won't do it. If he can't get it, he doesn't feel he needs it." After a few weeks of restaurant night shifts this summer, Tillman decided he'd rather see Sarah. He was missing those nightly tuck-ins. But a lucky break was coming his way this time. A former Fletcher schoolmate with a plumbing company agreed to hire him. Tillman had been riding his bicycle past Brian Christy's business for months, promising to learn quickly if he took a chance on him. A month ago, Tillman got his call-up. "Rusty knows what having a lot of money in his pocket is about and he also knows what not having any is about," Christy said. "A guy like that, you're not going to beat him down. It's his decision if he's going to get back on top of his game." After work on Sept. 19, Tillman planned to meet Sarah and her mother at Fletcher High School. The three of them were going to dinner to celebrate the toddler's birthday. Before that, Fletcher baseball coach Kevin Brown spotted his former classmate on the diamond. He told Tillman he was thrilled to see him at school, that he should come back and teach the boys how to really hit. Then the coach found a couple of bats. For the first time in years, Tillman stepped onto the field and took a swing. "Oh man, this brings back memories for real," Tillman said. "Oh yeah, I could see myself hitting some. I'd miss a whole bunch. But I'd hit some." bridget.murphy@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4161.Video: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1156018486/bctid1836680060 AG/DC Oct 17 2008 06:29 AM John Stearns makes Hall of Fame at Colorado University, who could use some good pub. Frankly, I'm surprised it's taken this long, considering the proliferation and dubious standards of Halls of Fame, but this does shed some light on one of the most enduring number-related mysteries in Met history. According to this photo, John wore 12 as an All-America defensive back, which could explain half of the 1977 number swap with Lee Mazzilli. Stearns into CU Hall of Fame Posted by GEOFF MORROW, Of The Patriot-News October 16, 2008 Harrisburg Senators manager John Stearns in his college football pose at the University of Colorado. He'll be inducted into the CU Hall of Fame on Friday. Considered one of the most prolific two-sport stars in University of Colorado history, Harrisburg Senators manager John Stearns will be inducted into the Buffaloes' Hall of Fame today in Boulder. Stearns, 57, starred for the Colorado football and baseball teams in the early 1970s. A first-team all-conference selection as a senior safety, Stearns earned the nickname "Bad Dude" as one of the most feared hitters in team history. He still holds the Buffaloes' career record with 16 interceptions and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 1973 NFL draft. But football wasn't even his best game, and he never played a down in the NFL. Stearns earned All-American status in baseball in '73, leading the NCAA in home runs (15) that year. His career numbers at Colorado include a .366 batting average, 26 home runs, 101 RBIs and 48 stolen bases. A catcher, he Stearns was the No. 2 overall pick in the 1973 amateur draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He was traded to the New York Mets after the '74 season and became a four-time National League all-star. After retiring, he became a scout and coach and managed the Senators in 2006 and 2008. In other Senators news, pitching coach Rick Tomlin, who spent the past four years with the Senators, is not returning to the organization, a fact confirmed by Bobby Williams, the Nationals' director of player development. Senators president Kevin Kulp also announced that Dan Watson, the team's secondary radio broadcaster last year, completed his internship in September and is not returning. Kulp said the team will look to hire another media intern, probably in January. For more on Stearns' induction, see Friday's edition of The Patriot-News. John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 17 2008 07:13 AM nice G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:08 AM Steve Henderson coaching his way into the World Series. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy who couldn't have given at least one already long-suffering fan a better Saturday night 28 years ago. ]Henderson missed winning the NL's Rookie of the Year Award by one vote to Montreal's Andre Dawson in 1977 after hitting .297 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI in 350 at-bats. In 1979 he hit .306 and in 1980, his final season in Flushing, he hit .290. It was that year that he had his most memorable day as a Met, and perhaps his most memorable day in baseball -- until Sunday night. On June 14, Henderson picked up his girlfriend Pam at LaGuardia, proposed to her (she accepted and they are still married) and then took her to the ballpark, where he etched his name into Mets lore for something other than being trade bait. In what has come to be called "The Steve Henderson Game," the left fielder stroked a three-run home run to right that capped a five-run, ninth-inning rally, as the previously awful Mets stunned the Giants, 7-6, to move to within a game of .500 and within six games of the Expos in the NL East. "That was a great, great day," Henderson said with a smile. "I'll always remember that one. But these days are pretty good, too." AG/DC Oct 21 2008 10:10 AM I (1) don't remember the proposal angle, which is awesome, and (2) am surprised it's got an eponymous reputation outside of here. G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:12 AM It got a cameo in the Shea Goodbye DVD even. AG/DC Oct 21 2008 10:19 AM I feel like we coined something. G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:20 AM I've been calling it the Steve Henderson Game since probably no later than June 16, 1980. AG/DC Oct 21 2008 10:27 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 21 2008 12:06 PM I just checked the calendar. It turns out that it's Shoot Down AG/DC Day. It came up so fast this year. G-Fafif Oct 21 2008 10:41 AM I've been calling it that since probably no later than eleven o'clock this morning. metirish Oct 21 2008 10:56 AM ="G-Fafif"]Steve Henderson coaching his way into the World Series. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy who couldn't have given at least one already long-suffering fan a better Saturday night 28 years ago. ]Henderson missed winning the NL's Rookie of the Year Award by one vote to Montreal's Andre Dawson in 1977 after hitting .297 with 12 home runs and 65 RBI in 350 at-bats. In 1979 he hit .306 and in 1980, his final season in Flushing, he hit .290. It was that year that he had his most memorable day as a Met, and perhaps his most memorable day in baseball -- until Sunday night. On June 14, Henderson picked up his girlfriend Pam at LaGuardia, proposed to her (she accepted and they are still married) and then took her to the ballpark, where he etched his name into Mets lore for something other than being trade bait. In what has come to be called "The Steve Henderson Game," the left fielder stroked a three-run home run to right that capped a five-run, ninth-inning rally, as the previously awful Mets stunned the Giants, 7-6, to move to within a game of .500 and within six games of the Expos in the NL East. "That was a great, great day," Henderson said with a smile. "I'll always remember that one. But these days are pretty good, too." Nice article on Henderson , can't say I knew much about him before now so thnaks for that. Farmer Ted Oct 21 2008 12:00 PM God, how did I miss Henderson with the Rays? Who else didn't know? AG/DC Oct 21 2008 12:13 PM The funny thing about the Joe Torre era is, despite how much they struggled to get their heads aobve water, how static a roster they had. G-Fafif Oct 22 2008 07:26 AM ="AG/DC":5nmwi48e]The funny thing about the Joe Torre era is, despite how much they struggled to get their heads aobve water, how static a roster they had.[/quote:5nmwi48e] Thinking about this observation in the context of my visceral over-the-top enthusiasm on September 28 when Doug Flynn was introduced. Next to Doc and Fonzie, two Mets I'd been waiting forever for to come home, I wasn't more elated to see anybody in a Mets jersey than Doug Flynn. It was bigger than Willie Mays to me, I think. That probably owes to the fact that those lousy teams from '77 to '80, the core of them anyway, stayed together. Those were our guys in (in my case) junior high and high school. Those were the guys we argued on behalf of, if only in our heads: Flynn, Hendu, Mazz, Blood, Swannie, Dude. They weren't very good but they were always there. Showing up counts. It's the difference (along with the perspective of age and expectation) between those lousy teams and the later lousy teams. There was more movement in the early '90s. It's the way the industry worked then, and you'd have been crazy to have hoped Vince Coleman would have hung around one second longer than he had to. By the lousy teams of '02-'04, there was nothing charming about it, certainly not if you'd lived through other dark eras. Maybe someday somebody who was a kid in 2003 will leap to his feet for an Old Timers introduction of Ty Wigginton. Ah, who am I kidding? I'll leap to my feet for an Old Timers introduction of Ty Wigginton. metirish Oct 27 2008 06:48 AM Koosman ] WHERE ARE THEY NOW? JERRY KOOSMAN BY JIM BAUMBACH | jim.baumbach@newsday.com October 26, 2008 Jerry Koosman hasn't followed the Tampa Bay Rays all that much this season, so he only recently became aware that people are comparing their stunning run to the World Series to the '69 Mets. But even though the former Mets lefthander might not be able to name many of the Tampa Bay players, he sure knows all about what these 20-somethings on the Rays are going through right now. And if the Rays are anything like those Miracle Mets, then they're not looking at this World Series against the Phillies as a chance to prove their worth to America. Because the Mets definitely didn't feel that way. "We felt we proved that we could win," Koosman said, "by getting to the World Series." But once there, the pressure of playing on the big stage definitely was intense. "The World Series was just a new endeavor, something none of us had ever experienced before," said Koosman, who allowed four runs and seven hits in 17 2/3 innings in winning Games 2 and 5. "So every day brought something new, like a different person singing the national anthem." Just like the '69 Mets, the Rays split the first two games of the World Series, losing the first and winning the second. Koosman said he approached Game 2 much differently from a normal game. "Personally, I went out there with a fear of losing," he said. "I just didn't want to lose. I didn't want to be taken out of the ballgame. I didn't want to be pinch hit for. I didn't want to be behind, whatever. I was just really fearful of losing and pitched my butt off because of that. "And in the back of my mind, I had a goal of pitching a perfect game." Seriously? "I certainly was thinking that," he said. Koosman wasn't perfect that day, but he was close enough. He took a no-hitter into the seventh and lasted 8 2/3 innings before Ron Taylor got the final out in the Mets' 2-1 win over the Orioles. Now 65 years old and living in a small Wisconsin suburb about an hour from Minneapolis, Koosman made a point of watching the Rays last week. He said the biggest similarity he noticed between their team and his was the young pitching staffs, especially the starters. The Mets' starters in the World Series were Koosman (26), Tom Seaver (24) and Gary Gentry (23). The Rays' starters are James Shields (26), Andy Sonnanstine (25), Matt Garza (24) and Scott Kazmir (24). The two teams' histories also are similar. In their first seven seasons of existence, the Mets had an average record of 56-105. After going 73-89 in 1968, they were 100-62 in 1969 and won the World Series. In its first 10 years of existence, Tampa Bay had an average record of 65-97. Then the Rays followed a 66-96 2007 season by going 97-65. If history repeats itself, the Rays will not lose again. In '69, the Mets won the series in five games, the last four in a row after losing the first in Baltimore. Koosman pitched Game 5, and he said he felt even more pressure to win that game than Game 2. "You could just sense how great it would be to win in New York and not go back to Baltimore," he said. "That was the main talk in the clubhouse and during batting practice. By the time the game started, each of us, I think, put enough pressure on ourselves. The outside pressure didn't matter anymore." Singer/actress Pearl Bailey, who sang the national anthem that day, approached Koosman just before he started his warmups. "She told me she saw the number eight and forecasted we would win," he said. "She didn't know what the number eight meant, but we won, 5-3." AG/DC Oct 27 2008 07:14 AM How has Jerry occupied himself in retirement? Benjamin Grimm Oct 27 2008 07:30 AM My guess: Golf! AG/DC Oct 27 2008 07:36 AM Well, I was thinking more about income-generating occupation. Has he kept the family farm going? Besides, I'm guessing that the golf in Minnesoata isn't top-notch. Benjamin Grimm Oct 27 2008 08:25 AM Well, he's almost 66 years old. I hope, for his sake, that he's happily retired by now. AG/DC Oct 27 2008 08:45 AM Well, I'm in the present perfect tense here, wondering how he's occupied himself in the interim, since his release by the Philllies. G-Fafif Oct 27 2008 08:51 AM It doesn't speak to his present occupation, but I got a big kick out of Kooz two years ago when SNY brought him and Mookie to town as part of a big pep rally prior to the postseason and Matt Yallof asked him to describe what it was like pitching in New York in October and Jerry took the question literally and described how the cool weather was very helpful. What a great Midwestern answer. metirish Oct 27 2008 09:31 AM Jerry had the open heart surgery a few years back IIRC. AG/DC Oct 27 2008 06:21 PM Straight outa Compton. The Duke Of Flatbush: The Story Of Duke Snider by Isaac Barrow (Senior Writer) Duke Snider is one of the best Dodgers ever to play the game. He played for the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers from 1947 to 1962. He played left field and is one of the best power hitters in baseball history... Duke Snider is one of the best Dodgers ever to play the game. He played for the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers from 1947 to 1962. He played left field and is one of the best power hitters in baseball history. Edwin Donald Snider was born on Sept. 19, 1926 in Los Angeles. Snider was a two-sport athlete, playing football and baseball, which he ended up pretty good at (just thought I'd put it out there). He attended Compton High School from 1940 to 1943. As a baseball player, he was spotted by a Branch Rickey scout and was immediately signed to a minor league contract. He played for the Montreal Royals in 1944, but had just two at bats. In 1945, he was drafted and 1946 would be his first season in professional baseball. He played for Fort Worth that year and in 1947 played for St. Paul. He played quite well there and after starting 1948 for Montreal and tearing it up, he was called up to the Dodgers for good. Snider never made a lot of money in the bigs: "My high salary was 46,000 dollars and a Cadillac." In 1949, he made that step up. He hit 23 home runs, drove in 92 and had a .292 batting clip. Snider had an amazing 1950 season, hitting .321 with 30 one home runs and 107 runs knocked in. The next year, Snider folded under pressure as he saw his average dip 40 four points. "I told (Walter) O'Malley I wanted a trade. I couldn't take the pressure anymore." Snider, being the mentally tough guy he was, adapted. He hit .303 with 21 homers the next year and got management back on his side. The mid 50's were his glory days. He hit 40 or more home runs in five consecutive seasons (1953-57) and averaged 42 home runs, 124 RBI, 123 runs and a .320 batting average between 1953-1956. He dipped dramatically from 1958 to 1964. In 1958, he had 15 home runs and just 58 RBI, but still hit.312 on the season. When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, his fold under pressure became evident. In his remaining years with the Dodgers, his career high in homers was just 23. His career low in Brooklyn was 21. In 1963, Duke played for the Mets. He struggled and wasn't the slugger he was expected to be. He had 14 home runs, 45 RBI and a .243 batting average. On Opening Day of 1964, the Giants picked him up. He was obviously washed up. He had four home runs, 17 RBI and an anemic .210 batting average. 31 years later in 1995, two Hall of Famers: Snider and Willie McCovey pleaded guilty to tax fraud. Snider failed to report income from sports memorabilia sales and sports card shows. In 1980, Snider was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He finished his career with 407 home runs, 1,333 RBI and a .295 batting clip. Since Johnny Podres died in January, Snider is the only living Dodger who was on the field for the 1955 World Series. What I think is funny is how much of a joke he thinks baseball is today. He is sick of the millionaires in baseball. He said, "Man, if I made a million dollars, I'd come at six in the morning, sweep the stands, wash the uniforms, clean out the office, manage the team and play the games." What do you say to that, Manny? MFS62 Oct 28 2008 07:52 AM And not one mention about how, after he retired, Snider went on to be one of the biggest (in terms of crop volume) avacado growers in the country? Later AG/DC Oct 28 2008 07:59 AM It's admittedly a pretty weak piece for a guy tagged as a "senior writer." He gets three quotes from Snider --- wow, old timers are jealous of rich latter day players and think they're prima donnas; shocker! --- and seems to paste the rest togeher from wikipedia or the paper's obits-of-the-future file. He goes chronologically through the career, but his post-career detail includes a one-sentence paragraph about 1995 and then back to 1980. Barely C- work. You get a Hall-of-Famer on the phone, get some juice. Get him to fill in some historical detail that's not on the record. How about calling Manny Ramirez for a rebuttal? HahnSolo Oct 28 2008 09:11 AM Help me with my Duke knowledge. Wasn't he a Center fielder? why does the writer call him a left fielder in the open? AG/DC Oct 28 2008 09:18 AM Good point. The writer seems to be in an unswerving devotion to failing his reader. Snider broke in as a utility outfielder but never played left primarily. He might have landed there, but he quickly took over center when Pete Reiser battered himself into obscurity by running into outfield walls. He played a lot of right at the end of his career, but anybody who knows a bit about the guy would call him a centerfieder. G-Fafif Oct 28 2008 09:31 AM If Snider weren't a centerfielder, Terry Cashman would have written "Willie, Mickey and Whoever Flanked The Duke". Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 07:57 AM Rick White, getting in shape: Springfield News-Sun Ex-Ray, Phillie won't take sides Springfield's Rick White had stops in Tampa Bay and Philadelphia during his 13-year MLB career. By David Jablonski Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD � People ask Rick White all the time, "Do you miss the game?" It's a natural question to pose to a pitcher who appeared in 613 Major League Baseball games for 11 teams over a 13-year period. At this time of year, as he watches two of his former teams play each other in the World Series, the Springfield resident White can expect to hear the question even more often. "I don't miss anything but the game itself," White said on Tuesday, Oct. 28. "I miss being out there competing. I wish I was in one of those bullpens waiting for the phone to ring." White played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 1998, the year the expansion team entered the league, until July 2000 when he was traded to the Mets. In his 2� seasons in Tampa Bay, he compiled a 3.81 ERA in 248 innings. He still ranks eighth in franchise history in games pitched (145). None of the current Rays were with the team when White played for them, but he did play with assistant coaches Dave Martinez (1998-2000) and Tom Foley (with Pittsburgh in 1994). From 2001-07, Tampa Bay ranked last in AL attendance every season. But in its first two seasons, it ranked in the middle of the pack, and White remembers the early years for the franchise as an exciting time. "It was a lot of fun to be a part of that, to be part of something new," he said. "In my first three years, we had teams that were good enough to win. We just couldn't put the pieces together. We weren't able to stop those big losing streaks." White pitched for the Phillies in 2006, compiling a 4.34 ERA in 38 relief appearances. He threw well enough to come away with positive impressions of the notorious Phillies fans. Watching the games over the last week, White said he's not rooting for one team. "I've got a bunch of friends on both teams," he said. "Obviously, the Phillies haven't won it in a long time. It'd be nice for them to win it. I like the National League game better, but I would be fine with whoever won this one." White has not pitched since the end of the 2007 season. For the first time in his life, he was able to take his family on a summer vacation this year. Still, he hasn't given up on baseball. He plans to meet with some general managers after this season about getting into coaching or scouting. He also plans to get his arm in shape � just in case. "I highly doubt it, but my agent says to go ahead and work out and stay in shape," White said. "If somebody is interested, I'll try out. If not, I'll be in shape to throw batting practice." G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 07:59 AM When did Edgy DC come out of retirement? Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 08:07 AM Had to fly my Rube Walker flag. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 08:38 AM Not that there's ever a bad day for it, but any particular reason today is Rube Walker Appreciation Day? Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 08:51 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Oct 29 2008 09:13 AM AG/DC is still working his way through Metly posting levels, while my alter ego Edgy DC, having surpassed 11,000, posts retains the permanent posting designation of his choice --- Rube Walker. When I saw Zvon had created a new avatar for that designation, I had to switch back to Edgy. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 08:54 AM Thank you for indulging the question. It's a very nice avatar. Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 08:54 AM It strikes me that, among multiple posting names here, at the old Crane Pool, and at the MOFo, I probably have over 100,000 posts, and have goofed off more than any internet poster in Metdom. Benjamin Grimm Oct 29 2008 09:08 AM My post total is second to yours, but I never reset myself to zero. My 20,000 or so posts includes the ezBoard totals as well as my name change. I think your biggest competition for all-time post leader might be Scarlett/Cookie Mom/metfairy/Inside Pitcher... Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 09:14 AM Scarlet put in a six-month retirement, but she certainly pre-dated me at the MOFo. I don't know how many handles she worked there. She also had a career at Grand Slam Single. Vic Sage Oct 29 2008 09:33 AM ah, yes, the GSS. I was banned there... a distinction i wear with honor. I don't even remember why. I think i tried to incite an insurrection against their overbearing administrators. SteveJRogers Oct 29 2008 09:44 AM ="Vic Sage":1f3jzt7s]ah, yes, the GSS. I was banned there... a distinction i wear with honor. I don't even remember why. I think i tried to incite an insurrection against their overbearing administrators.[/quote:1f3jzt7s] GSS is spoken of in the same terms quite often over at the MOFO. Kind of feel sorry I missed out on all that fun. metsguyinmichigan Oct 29 2008 09:58 AM As a relative newby, may I must ask what the MOFo is? Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 10:03 AM Mets Online Forum. This forum was established largely in response to a downclick in the level of discourse there. That's right, once we were trying to set a standard. Willets Point Oct 29 2008 10:07 AM MetsOnline itself was a fan-built website in the mid-90's that predated the Mets having a website. MetsOnline was killed by a cease & desist in 2002, although I think there may still be a bulletin board out there where they're calling themselves the MOFO. Benjamin Grimm Oct 29 2008 11:28 AM It sounds like Steve was talking about it in the present tense. SteveJRogers Oct 29 2008 12:34 PM I was referring to the BB that Willets mentioned. Several of the posters on the current MOFO were on GSS (yet another Met forum named after Ventura's infamous game winning hit in Game 5 1999 NLCS of course), and got the boot in the same fashion as Vic mentioned, for pretty much the same reasons. Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 12:43 PM Infamous? Are you a Braves fan? Steve seems to know more about the history of this place than I do, and I don't know hardly anything about him. Benjamin Grimm Oct 29 2008 12:51 PM Yeah, really. I wouldn't put Robin Ventura's game-winning shot in the same category as Pearl Harbor. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 04:15 PM ="Benjamin Grimm"]Yeah, really. I wouldn't put Robin Ventura's game-winning shot in the same category as Pearl Harbor. October 17, 1999: A date which will live in famy. A Boy Named Seo Oct 29 2008 04:21 PM Rogers was either going with the popular, but controversial Lucky Day/El Guapo definition of "infamous", or he's just gettin' all Chipper J. Jeets[/url:1drkl6im] on us. G-Fafif Oct 29 2008 04:26 PM Steve's been everywhere, man... seawolf17 Oct 29 2008 05:39 PM ="A Boy Named Seo":1gbomtrk]Rogers was either going with the popular, but controversial Lucky Day/El Guapo definition of "infamous"[/quote:1gbomtrk] Hilarious. "Jefe? Do you know what is a plethora? Well, you told me I have a plethora. I would not like to think that a person would tell someone he has a plethora, and then find out that that person has no idea what it means to have a plethora." One of the best movies ever. Edgy DC Oct 29 2008 05:45 PM Well, maybe one of the best million films ever. I can go for that. Kong76 Oct 29 2008 06:17 PM EDC: Steve seems to know more about the history of this place than I do, and I don't know hardly anything about him <<< StevieJStalker sees all! Frayed Knot Oct 29 2008 07:39 PM ="SteveJRogers":2nu9sgsu]Several of the posters on the current MOFO were on GSS and got the boot in the same fashion as Vic mentioned, for pretty much the same reasons.[/quote:2nu9sgsu] What Vic did to got booted (and me IIRC) had nothing to do with what others did. Edgy DC Oct 30 2008 10:58 AM Dan Reilly, knew when to keep his mouth shut. Check out the piping on ihs original uni. Villager photo by Will McKinleyDan Reilly, the original Mr. Met, at Shea Stadium recently. Reilly with his Mr. Met baseball head back in the mid-1960s when he was the team�s mascot at home games. Mr. Met recalls heady times as first mascot for Amazin�s By WILL McKINLEY Dozens of Mets legends were honored at Shea Stadium�s closing ceremony last month, from Tom Seaver to Mike Piazza and all the lesser lights in between. But one seminal figure in the team�s history was conspicuous by his absence. Dan Reilly, the first man to wear the costume of iconic mascot Mr. Met, watched the bittersweet festivities at home on TV like an ordinary fan. But the longtime Soho resident and author of the new book �The Original Mr. Met Remembers,� is anything but. �I�m disappointed they didn�t invite me back, but I�m not angry,� said Reilly, who played the Mets mascot on and off the field from 1964 through 1967, the first three of his nine years with the club. �Seaver, Koosman, Swoboda, all those guys were my buddies. And I figured they�d like to see me again, too, just to say hello, a few handshakes, keep in touch. They all still call me Mr. Met.� Now 70 and retired, Reilly�s ties with the team go back to Shea�s inaugural season, when he joined the Mets ticket sales staff two months before the debut of their new home. �It was a snowy February morning the day of my interview,� Reilly said last week, as he walked the grounds of the soon-to-be-demolished stadium. �From the outside, it looked like an orange-and-blue skeleton. Nothing was happening and nobody was around. Inside, they were still putting the seats in. And now I�m watching them take those seats out. It�s sad.� Sadness is not an emotion readily associated with Reilly, a jovial, outgoing raconteur who worked in the restaurant business after leaving the Mets in 1972, and recently concluded a four-year stint as the host of game-day ferry rides to Shea. On boat or barstool, the Richmond Hill, Queens, native spins colorful tales of the early days of the Amazin� Mets with a hearty laugh and, on this occasion, a misty eye. �We were a small organization back then, no superstars,� said Reilly, clad in a Mets jersey and still using �we� and �us� when referring to the team he left 36 years ago. �I drank with those guys. I knew where all the good Irish bars in Queens were. And I knew when to keep my mouth shut. That�s why everyone liked me.� Reilly was front and center for nearly all of the significant events of the team�s first decade: Shea�s first opening day; the 1964 All-Star Game; Casey Stengel�s on-field 75th birthday celebration and the infamous after-party at Toots Shor�s, where the legendary manager broke his hip and ended his career; the arrival of 1967 Rookie of the Year Seaver; the managerial tenure of Reilly�s boyhood idol Gil Hodges and, most memorably, the Miracle Mets World Series victory on Oct. 16, 1969. �As soon as that game was over, I ran from the press box down to the clubhouse,� Reilly said 39 years and one day later, as he traced the trajectory from the top of the stadium to the bottom with his finger. �There�s a picture of me in the 1970 yearbook, being doused with champagne by Jerry Grote. Those were my guys. They were the best.� In addition to his daily responsibilities, first in ticket sales and later in the promotions department, Reilly also served as the V.I.P. handler for visiting celebrities and politicians, ran the Mets Speakers Bureau program and filled in as public address announcer at Shea for three weeks in 1966. He also wished four members of a British rock band good luck as they ran on to the field for an August 1965 concert. �I said, �Break a leg, guys,� and one of them said, �Thanks mate!�� Reilly remembered. �I don�t know which one it was because I didn�t know who The Beatles were back then.� But Reilly�s fondest memories began on May 31, 1964, when he donned the papier-m�ch�, baseball-shaped head of the first mascot in Major League Baseball history. The Mets lost both sides of a doubleheader that day to the Giants, whose defection to California with the Brooklyn Dodgers after the 1957 season inspired attorney Bill Shea�s successful crusade to bring National League baseball back to New York. But, between games of that doubleheader, a star was born. �The stadium was packed and I was nervous,� Reilly said with a laugh. �They had told me to play it straight, just walk out there and wave, but the kids started swarming down to meet me in the stands. I shook hands, posed for pictures, signed autographs. After that, I got cocky and started dancing. It was an instant hit. Back then, the fans might not have recognized the players, but they always recognized Mr. Met.� As Reilly remembered the glories of four decades past, he struck up a conversation with a current Mets fan, 48-year-old software engineer Mark Szemberski, who was snapping photos of the now-shuttered stadium. �Of all people to meet, the last time I�m at Shea � Mr. Met!� Szemberski exclaimed, as he posed for a picture with the unlikely celebrity. �You made my day. I hope they invite you back when they open the new stadium.� Reilly handed Szemberski his business card, which features a photo of his younger self in a regulation Mets uniform, holding the outsized head that made him famous. The original Mr. Met is smiling broadly, as always. �Baseball is tradition,� Reilly said, as he bid final farewell to Shea from a departing 7 train. �Mr. Met touched people then, and he still does. I think it�s important to remember how we used to do it, what Shea used to be like. If we do, there will always be a Shea Stadium.� �The Original Mr. Met Remembers: When the Miracle Began� (138 pages) is available at iUniverse.com. HahnSolo Oct 30 2008 11:22 AM The uniform on the right suggests that photo is from '86 (racing stripes and anniversary logo), not from the early sixties. (I see Edgy beat me to that). soupcan Oct 30 2008 11:23 AM Yeah - something's wrong there. Benjamin Grimm Oct 30 2008 11:38 AM I'd guess that in 1986 he was just visiting with his old head. seawolf17 Oct 30 2008 12:07 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":36b19cxk]I'd guess that in 1986 he was just visiting with his old head.[/quote:36b19cxk] Possibly for a 25th anniversary event, which would make sense. Edgy DC Nov 03 2008 02:40 PM The High-A Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino (real name!) have announced their coaching staff, including John Valentin as batting coach and Charlie Hough as pitching coach. I confused Hough with Verne Ruhle and thought he was dead. Edgy DC Nov 10 2008 02:45 PM Candidates being looked at for the Seattle managerial job include Jose Oquendo, the prototype for Rey Ordoñez; Joey Cora, who managed for the Mets in the minors, and Randy Ready, who has one of the porniest names in baseball history. sharpie Nov 11 2008 11:36 AM Soon we can enjoy the literary stylings of Mike Piazza: Mike Piazza, a 12-time All Star for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets, has signed a deal to write his autobiography for Simon & Schuster. V-p and senior editor Bob Bender acquired world rights from David Black, CEO of Black Inc., and Dan Lozano, Piazza�s sports agent. Publication is slated for 2010. In the book, Piazza, who retired just before the 2008 season, will discuss controversies of his career, including the 2000 World Series incident when Roger Clemens threw a shattered bat at him, and the press conference he held to deny rumors that he was gay. The autobiography will also cover Piazza�s tumultuous relationships with the Dodgers, their front office and Tommy Lasorda; as well as his former teammates Bobby Valentine, Pedro Martinez, Rickey Henderson and others. Edgy DC Nov 11 2008 11:40 AM He actually retired well into the 2008 season when he hadn't gotten interest from anybody. And Bobby Valentine wasn't his teammate. Who writes press releases these days? John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 11 2008 11:47 AM Who cares. I'm going to read the hell out of that book. Edgy DC Nov 11 2008 11:52 AM If'n I were you, I contact that agent NOW!!!! and show him your writin' credentials. Benjamin Grimm Nov 11 2008 11:55 AM Good thought. Writing the hell out of the book would be even better than reading the hell out of it. HahnSolo Nov 11 2008 12:19 PM Knowing the publishing industry as I do, I can tell you that acquiring editor had absolutely no interest in the writin' credentials in the manuscript and cared primarily about the name on page 1. Benjamin Grimm Nov 11 2008 12:21 PM So Piazza now shops around for a ghost, I suppose? I figure he'll go with a sportswriter he had a good relationship with during his playing days. G-Fafif Nov 11 2008 12:23 PM Or a David Frum/Michael Gershon otherwise underemployed wordsmith of the right. Mike goes that way. HahnSolo Nov 11 2008 12:25 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":r3mb7fqz]So Piazza now shops around for a ghost, I suppose? I figure he'll go with a sportswriter he had a good relationship with during his playing days.[/quote:r3mb7fqz] I doubt Piazza does the shopping unless there's a writer he was really close to and insists on using him. Otherwise, I expect the literary agent would work with the publisher to find someone. Edgy DC Nov 11 2008 12:28 PM Which is fucking why you should be acting NOW!!!! G-Fafif Nov 11 2008 12:30 PM I'm Richie Hebner for another eight posts or so. I'm not going out of my way to pick up any ground balls for a little while. sharpie Nov 11 2008 12:32 PM David Black, the agent, reps many bigtime sportswriters (including Mitch Albom of "Tuesdays With Morrie" fame). Piazza would have already come attached with a writer by the time the deal was made. Benjamin Grimm Nov 11 2008 12:32 PM I don't want to stir up an ugly intramural competition, but GFafif should also throw his hat in the ring. G-Fafif Nov 11 2008 12:40 PM ="Benjamin Grimm":3prysgfg]I don't want to stir up an ugly intramural competition, but GFafif should also throw his hat in the ring.[/quote:3prysgfg] Thanks, but first I have to finish my "as told to myself" thing. After I stop being Richie Hebner. Edgy DC Nov 12 2008 10:23 AM Former Pitchers Leading Today's Brogna News: Hideo Nomo, teaching the forkball to young buffalos. Frank Viola, getting into the analyst game. Tom Seaver, advising the youth of today and liquoring up Tommy Davis. John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 12 2008 10:41 AM Read also where Leiter was joining the staff at MLB-TV. I guess that means he's leaving the NO! network. Edgy DC Nov 13 2008 08:14 AM So, if you're like me, you grew sick of stories of Lenny Dykstra, swinging finance trader, about two paragraphs into the first one, but now the angle isn't that he's just another player, but that he's actually flourishing during these hard times. The claim is that he's 82-0 in stock picks endorsed in his newsletter. Edgy DC Nov 13 2008 01:36 PM Rick Sweet returning as manager of the Louisville Bats. Local favorite Roger Mason joins the Traverse City Beach Bums as pitching coach. John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 13 2008 01:38 PM Ron Gardenhire gets an extension. Leiter btw, will still work for Al-Yankazeera. Reynolds tho is out at SNY, raising speculation that Bobby Ojeda is on his way in. I think I speak for everyone ever by saying it would be nice to mix a 73er or 99-00er in there. TransMonk Nov 13 2008 01:42 PM ="John Cougar Lunchbucket":1jn4n2h7]I think I speak for everyone ever by saying it would be nice to mix a 73er or 99-00er in there.[/quote:1jn4n2h7] Didn't Zeile get a shot once? Benjamin Grimm Nov 13 2008 01:44 PM I was thinking a 69er: Ron Swoboda. Edgy DC Nov 13 2008 05:02 PM Sam Perlozzo joins the Phils. Bang. metsguyinmichigan Nov 13 2008 11:01 PM ="Edgy DC":828l4i24]Rick Sweet returning as manager of the Louisville Bats. Local favorite Roger Mason joins the Traverse City Beach Bums as pitching coach.[/quote:828l4i24] Traverse City is a beautiful resort area about two hours north of me. The team is fairly new, and plays in an independent league. We used to play in an all-newspaper softball tournament in Traverse, and it was fun until the Detroit News took it over and started stacking its team with ringers who didn't work for the paper. Cads! I'll have to head up this summer and see a game and talk to Mason! Edgy DC Nov 14 2008 10:19 AM Holy Foli, Batman, it's Sammy Drake! In a Mets hat! An old friendship, forged 50 years ago, is rekindled AUGUSTA -- It was the New York Mets cap on his head. This being Red Sox country, people had to stop the athletic, older man this week and ask. "What's up with the hat?" That's when C. Wayne Mitchell glanced at his guest and stepped in. "This is Sammy Drake. Don't you know who he is?" No one did, to the amusement of both men. "He's an original member of the Mets," Mitchell would tell them. "He's my friend." It's a friendship forged nearly 50 years ago, interrupted by decades of separation and searching by Mitchell and resumed about four years ago. Mitchell's family, aware of his wish to reconnect, trolled the Internet, finding Drake at a Mets reunion in New Jersey. Sunday, Drake came to Mitchell's home in Sidney for a four-day visit. They laughed and joked and marveled again at the strength of a relationship neither fully understood when it began on a hot U.S. Army base in the deep south at a time when full integration was still a dream. Drake was a draftee from Little Rock, Ark. trying to keep alive his dream of playing major league baseball while he was serving his country. Mitchell was the 7-year-old son of a career soldier returned from duty in Germany and new to the Georgia base. That summer, the young boy discovered the Fort Gordon Rams and a young, talented infielder who asked Mitchell if he wanted to be the bat boy. "I could see he was interested in baseball," said Drake during lunch at a local restaurant Wednesday. Drake remembered when he fell in love with the game. The two played catch. Sometimes, Mitchell would go the base recreation center where Drake worked. They were so different in age and in race. Then, Mitchell was too young to understand what it meant to be a young black adult in Georgia. Drake, of course, did. A year or two after meeting, Mitchell's father was transferred to Taiwan. Mitchell got a baseball glove, a bat, a handshake, and much later, when he could fully understand, an outlook on life. "Of all the hello's and good-bye's, his was the one I remember most," said Mitchell, while Drake nodded. "I knew a thank-you would be in order." Mitchell's story to this point became a column I wrote four years ago. Then, I couldn't reach Drake who had returned to his home in Los Angeles. Wednesday, at lunch, I introduced myself. Meeting Mitchell wasn't a coincidence, Drake said. There was a reason that maybe still isn't clear 50 years later. Drake was surprised, but not stunned when Mitchell walked up to his table at the hotel where the Mets reunion and autograph session took place. He's met a lot of people in his 74 years and has usually found the goodness in them, even under trying circumstances. "At first I thought he as a typical fan," Drake said. "When he started talking about Fort Gordon I knew right away." Drake can't say he thought about Mitchell much over the years. Neither did he forget the young bat boy who would go to the gym to fold towels and stay out of the way of the soldiers.� "He would get picked on by the ballplayers a little bit. It was all in fun, but I could see it bothered him. I'd say, come with me. Let's play catch." Drake signed with the Chicago Cubs for $1,500 and was later assigned to Macon, Ga. to play for Pepper Martin in the so-called Sally League. He was the first African-American to play in the league he says. The most hurtful part of that season? "Not being able to sleep in the same hotels with my teammates. Not being able to eat with them. I could get carry-out or go across the river to a (black-owned restaurant.)" In the next breath, Drake tells of Martin's effort to get him seated with the team at a restaurant in Indiana. Martin, nicknamed the Wild Horse of the Osage, was a third baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals' "Gashouse Gang" in the 1930s and colorblind. Drake remembers one of his first trips to spring training with the Cubs after his two years in the Army. He was one of three black ballplayers in a group of 50 minor leaguers were assigned to a barracks-style building. "Every night I would pray. They must have thought I was from another planet. "But I had a good spring training. When camp broke, everyone was on their knees praying but two." Monday, Mitchell and Drake had breakfast with Roger Katz, the mayor of Augusta and a baseball fan. Katz invited Drake to speak to the city council that night. He told the story of a Cubs tryout he attended in Winnipeg, Manitoba and the sore arm he had. He couldn't throw across the infield. Discouraged, he called the grandmother who raised him. Don't worry, he was told. She would pray for him. "We had a big snowstorm," said Drake smiling. "We couldn't use the field for two weeks. I soaked my arm in the bath tub every day. I was ready." The Mets drafted him off the Cubs roster. His two-year, major league career was the proverbial cup of coffee. In 53 games he hit .153. His older brother, Solly, played parts of three seasons with the Cubs, Phillies and Dodgers. Together, they were the first African-American brothers to play major league baseball. Early Thursday morning, Drake said good-bye to Mitchell and his wife, Bonnie, and began his trip back to Los Angeles. A graduate of Philander Smith College in Little Rock, he's a retired investigator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He teaches Sunday School at the Greater Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church, where his brother, the Rev. Dr. Solomon Drake, is pastor to a 6,000-member congregation. They've listened to the story of how a young white boy and a young black adult became lasting friends. It shouldn't be forgotten. Edgy DC Nov 19 2008 10:38 AM Jack Aker, out of work and vulnerable like the rest of us. This old ballplayer understands life better than most by Rabbi Ben Kamin, Spiritual Life Examiner Jack Aker, a name known to aficionados of the national pastime, is something of a legend. But if his baseball card could talk, you�d hear a lot more than breezy play-by-play. Here�s a guy who made more appearances (495) as a relief pitcher than anybody in his time, but found himself taken out of the game quite before he expected. Like anybody suddenly not doing the thing we�ve been doing forever, Jack found himself looking down the abyss�he was tearful, anxious, and despondent. Baseball players are real people, in spite of the hype we impose on them, and their souls hurt, their spirits droop, just like all hard-working Americans. Jack won the Sporting News �Fireman of the Year� award in 1966 and played for the Kansas City and then Oakland Athletics, the Seattle Pilots, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, and New York Mets. When I met him some years ago, he was pitching coach of the Cleveland Indians; I caught my breath short, extending and receiving hands of friendship with a living and breathing major leaguer who was on a first-name basis with such stars as Phil Niekro and Tom Seaver. I saw him at his tallest. Arriving on the green natural field before game time, Jack came for me, in full regalia�snappy cap and shimmering team jacket. He walked across fresh, chalky baselines with a certain, lanky royalty. There were the first faint smells of popcorn and beer from the bowels from the bowels of the old stadium as the coach escorted me into the clubhouse. Jack took me into a comfortably large room filled with open booths that served as repositories for the players. �Here,� he declared, �we meet and discuss the game plan.� Like a knothole sentry, he walked past the colognes and hair dryers of the bath area towards a large bin containing thick, polished baseball bats. He said, somberly: �Nobody can touch a man�s bat. You see, Ben, they are numbered according to his uniform number. The bat is a very personal matter to a guy. Nobody can touch it.� I understood what a sacrilege was and I shook my head in awe of power and success. A little over a year later, following a season of fallen expectations and profits, Jack (and the team manager) were both summarily dismissed from their positions. Now, this same Jack, record-holder, my invincible hero, sat in the front of my automobile, shoulders slumped, his head in his hands. We were taking a ride in the country as the venerable coach tried to sort things out. His prestige, his income, and his self-image were suddenly as powdery as the faded chalk lines of that emerald ball field he had once ruled. Jack was gone, the manager was gone, as well as a number of the muscular, sleek, swaggering players I had met that shining afternoon�in a different season. A person is so much more than his baseball card, her resume, his cellular list of �contacts.� Jack is doing okay, taking in his children and grandchildren, knowing well what it means to be laid off, discarded, discontinued. Maybe this old ballplayer understands America right now better than most. MFS62 Nov 19 2008 11:00 AM Thank you, Edgy. Anyone who ever lost a job knows that you didn't have to bold that portion. We would have noticed it and commiserated(sp?) with Jack. But the way it was said was an unexpected pleasure in a piece like that, wasn't it? Later Edgy DC Nov 19 2008 11:03 AM I was just imitating the original publishing, which set it as a pullquote. Farmer Ted Nov 19 2008 12:07 PM Tim Foli will return to manage Washington's Class AAA affiliate in 2009. Met Hunter Nov 19 2008 10:37 PM John Stearns will be back managing the Nats AA team in Harrisburg as well. Benjamin Grimm Nov 20 2008 06:14 AM Tim Bogar was among three who interviewed for a spot on the Phillies coaching staff. The problem is, they thought they were interviewing Doug Flynn. Edgy DC Nov 21 2008 10:06 AM John Nunnaly, batting coach with the Columbus Clippers. Edgy DC Nov 23 2008 08:56 PM Jeff Innis, Cape Cod League Hall-of-Famer. Edgy DC Nov 28 2008 11:45 AM Tim Bogar formally accepts the Red Sox offer to coach first. John Cougar Lunchbucket Nov 28 2008 12:37 PM The last 5 or 6 messages belong in that other thread. Edgy DC Dec 04 2008 10:34 AM I consider coaching jobs part of retirement. Rico's was a coaching job. I hear you, though. Nonetheless, I'm sticking with it for one more thread, as Joe McEwing takes over the Winston-Salem Former Warthogs. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 04 2008 10:43 AM Just for that it's my duty to report that Jason Hardtke has been named hitting coach of the Missoula Osprey (Dbaggs -Pioneer League). The Baggs also named Brett Butler manager of the Reno Aces (PCL). G-Fafif Dec 04 2008 01:04 PM I once received a letter letting me know Brett Butler would come and speak to my employees and motivate them with his life experiences and faith in Christ for only $20,000. How much is each Ace going to have to ante up for the privilege? Edgy DC Dec 16 2008 09:38 AM West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff. Benjamin Grimm Dec 16 2008 09:56 AM You must have overlooked Jerry Cram in your Google subscription: ="Our Sports Central":3gap6pnt] SAN JOSE, CALIF December 15, 2008- The San Jose Giants announced their 2009 coaching staff today with Andy Skeels joining the club as manager, Jerry Cram as pitching coach and Gary Davenport returning as hitting coach. Yukiya Oba also returns as the team's athletic trainer. ... Jerry Cram is familiar with San Jose after spending three years as the Giants pitching coach from 2001-2003. The former major leaguer is now entering his ninth season in the San Francisco organization after working the last five years (2004-2008) as pitching coach of the Salem- Keizer Volcanoes (Short-Season). During his time in the Giants farm system, Cram's teams have won three league championships: San Jose in 2001 and Salem-Keizer in 2006 and 2007. Cram spent parts of four seasons in the major leagues with the Kansas City Royals (1969, 1976) and New York Mets (1974-1975), compiling a 0-3 record and 2.98 ERA over 23 career appearances. Cram has devoted 28 years to the Kansas City organization, the last 14 as a pitching instructor, in a tenure that ended in 1997. Cram then spent three seasons as a pitching coach in the Colorado Rockies minor league system before joining the San Francisco organization prior to the 2001 campaign. ... The San Jose Giants open their 2009 season on Thursday, April 9th at Municipal Stadium vs. the Stockton Ports. The Opening Night Extravaganza will include a post-game fireworks display, 2009 magnet schedule giveaway, the return of Gigante and much more. [/quote:3gap6pnt] metsguyinmichigan Dec 16 2008 12:29 PM ="Edgy DC":3l94882y]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:3l94882y] The Whitecaps have a thing on Sunday afternoons where you can either go on the field to play catch, or go near the dugout where all the players stand in a line and sign autographs. (kids get a free soda and hot dog, too. We got to a lot of Sunday games.) So last year I brought my treasured Mets book, sought out DePastino to sign it and tried to talk to him about his short Mets tenure. Even though there was no one else around and nothing going on, he had absolutely nothing to say. Was disappointed. Maybe I'll have better luck with Benny. G-Fafif Dec 16 2008 12:37 PM ="Edgy DC":1sfgljfz]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:1sfgljfz] What's Distefano's Met pedigree (other than breaking up David Cone's no-hitter?) At least this will give Distefano and DePastino a chance to exchange each other's misdirected mail. Benjamin Grimm Dec 16 2008 12:49 PM He was a replacement player with the Mets in spring training 1995. G-Fafif Dec 16 2008 12:59 PM Now that you say it, it sounds remotely familiar though I have to confess I might have missed it on a multiple choice. Any other ex-big leaguers in that camp? metsguyinmichigan Dec 16 2008 02:07 PM Stan Jefferson, I think. I saw a couple of those spring games. HahnSolo Dec 16 2008 02:25 PM ="G-Fafif":1lmhw7l1]="Edgy DC":1lmhw7l1]West Michigan Whitecaps going with Met pedigree this year, adding Benny Distefano to Joe DePastino's staff.[/quote:1lmhw7l1] What's Distefano's Met pedigree (other than breaking up David Cone's no-hitter?) At least this will give Distefano and DePastino a chance to exchange each other's misdirected mail.[/quote:1lmhw7l1] Italian restaurants in West Michigan are scurrying to bid for the postgame spread. HahnSolo Dec 16 2008 02:26 PM ="metsguyinmichigan":2a90z7f9]Stan Jefferson, I think. I saw a couple of those spring games.[/quote:2a90z7f9] Two guys I went to high school with, Cliff Gonzalez (8th round pick of the Mets in '85) and Chris Walpole, were in that camp. Gonzalez and Jefferson knew each other having both been from Co-op City. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 17 2008 09:11 AM ] DYKSTRA DROPS THE BALL By KEITH J. KELLY December 17, 2008 -- FORMER New York Mets out fielder Lenny Dykstra appears to be striking out with his magazine, Players Club. Dykstra, who helped the 1986 Mets capture the World Series before landing with the Philadelphia Phillies, is leaving behind a string of unpaid bills and a constant parade of shifting editors and office addresses. In the latest upheaval, Chris Frankie, the acting editor, resigned Dec. 4 along with two other staffers. Now Loren Feldman, former editor-in-chief of Philadelphia magazine, is said to be ready to join as the new chief editor. "Loren Feldman is the new editor," said Dykstra. Meanwhile, Frankie says he's owed back pay. But Dykstra sees things differently: "That's not true. Frankie owes me money. Whatever he's talking about is delusional." Counters Frankie, "That's beyond ridiculous. How could an employee owe an employer money?" Beyond three months' back pay, Frankie said he's also owed for business expenses. Frankie, who had originally helped Dykstra write the TheStreet.com's "Nails on the Numbers" column, got the editor job in August after Dykstra's talks with Neil Amdur, a former sports editor at The New York Times, collapsed at the last minute after a fight over Amdur's ability to hire deputies. "I did fly out there for a meeting with Dykstra about the editor's job," Amdur confirmed. "I spent a couple of days with him. He did offer me the job." The last issue of Players Club was published in October, and the November issue will now be combined into a year-end double issue that has yet to appear. His aim with the magazine was to help professional athletes make sensible investments with the money they earn from sports to ensure they don't go broke when their pro careers end. But present and former staffers say that Dykstra, who during his days with Major League Baseball had the nickname "Nails," is tough as nails when it comes to paying his staff or vendors. Frequently, sources said, he got staff to use their own credit cards to pay for ex penses related to the maga zine, and took months to re imburse the employees. Although the magazine is less than a year old, it has al ready had four different printers and three different editors. Several vendors have also stopped doing business with the magazine. The latest vendor to suspend business is Getty Images, which sources say is owed around $40,000. Dykstra claims that's not true. "I have a great relationship with them," he said of Getty. One source who's worked closely with Dykstra said he "has a haphazard way of paying - he just wires you money." "It's always that the money is just about to come in and everyone will be paid," this person said, adding that if someone demands payment, then Dykstra turns on them. "If you demand payment, then you are the enemy. "He always feels abandoned by people, but he doesn't seem to realize that he's the reason people abandon him." Frayed Knot Dec 17 2008 09:24 AM This surprises me not. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 17 2008 09:26 AM Gotta love the irony in this venture being all about athletes spending wisely. Edgy DC Dec 17 2008 09:26 AM Another day, another house of cards. Edgy DC Dec 22 2008 03:04 PM Aaron Ledesma, infield coach for the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees. The Yankees get a AAA infield coach? What a ripoff! Frayed Knot Dec 22 2008 07:36 PM Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore. Edgy DC Dec 26 2008 08:28 AM DJ has no regrets. Of course he doesn't. He got to be a Met. D.J. Dozier had a Bo Jackson-like versatility Posted to: 50 Greatest Sports By Ed Miller The Virginian-Pilot As William, Bill, or even Billy, it just would not have worked as well. William Henry "D.J." Dozier would have been no less the athlete without that alliterative name, smooth as one of his touchdown runs or fielding gems at shortstop. That name - "D.J. Dozier" - was the shiny bow on top of the package of prep stardom. And Dozier was the complete package: a three-sport standout at Kempsville High, wooed by virtually every major football program in the country, coveted by virtually every pro baseball scout. Virginia Tech coach Bill Dooley came to the Norfolk Sports Club in December 1982 and made a public pitch for Dozier, something that would not be allowed under recruiting rules today, when coaches can't woo prospects through the media. Major league teams waved dollar signs in front of him, trying to convince him to skip football and play baseball. Dozier, No. 12 on the list of greatest athletes from South Hampton Roads, chose football - and Penn State. Later, after several years in the NFL, he reversed course and picked up a bat and glove. Good enough to briefly make it to the majors, he was, in an era of two-sport dabblers, a local, lower-wattage version of guys such as Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders. "Obviously, when you look at the statistics, the numbers are certainly not what I hoped they would have been," said Dozier, now 43 and back in Virginia Beach working as a business consultant. "But the fact that I had the opportunity to go that far with what I would call God-given ability is a tremendous blessing." A dynamo at Penn State, Dozier forever will be a made man among Nittany Lion greats after leading the team in rushing four straight years, earning All-America honors twice and scoring the winning touchdown in a national championship victory over Miami. Things never clicked for him in the NFL, though. A first-round pick, Dozier missed time with injuries and didn't like the way the Vikings were using him - which was not too often. After three years, he signed with the Mets and began the climb through the minors in 1990. Meanwhile, contract talks with the Vikings stalled. Dozier finally re-signed with them halfway through the 1990 season. Dozier finished out that season and played six games with Detroit in 1991. With his baseball career seemingly blossoming, he left football behind. He would play just 25 games for the Mets, though, in 1992. In 1994, at 28, he moved on with his life, retiring from baseball. Dozier has coached, traveled the world doing missionary work, worked as a financial planner and investment banker. He moved back to Virginia recently from Allentown, Pa. He brought with him no regrets. Dozier said he remembered a former Kempsville teammate who played at Lock Haven University. Dozier knew he was good enough to play at Penn State and told his coaches. They offered him a chance to come to Happy Valley. In the end, though, the friend chose the security of staying at Lock Haven, later second-guessing his decision not to take his shot. "I never forgot what he told me about the regret part of it," Dozier said. "That's what it was for me with baseball. I look at it as something that was a bit nuts, but I really felt that I could do it. "The biggest thing about it is I didn't want to look back and regret not trying." He'll never have to. Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372 ed.miller@pilotonline.com metsguyinmichigan Dec 26 2008 11:17 AM That's a nice story! Plus, I'd forgotten how nasty those old Tides caps were. G-Fafif Dec 26 2008 01:32 PM ="Frayed Knot":34ueq9bz]Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore.[/quote:34ueq9bz] How do you suppose he'll greet his new players...or monstrously huge batboy? themetfairy Dec 26 2008 02:12 PM ="G-Fafif":1emwxaju]="Frayed Knot":1emwxaju]Mike Bordick, head baseball coach at Boys' Latin School in Baltimore.[/quote:1emwxaju] How do you suppose he'll greet his new players...or monstrously huge batboy?[/quote:1emwxaju] No - just with a simple, "Welcome Abordick," of course! Edgy DC Dec 30 2008 07:42 AM Felix Mantilla, spreading the good chromosomes around. Mantilla earning court time at Yale December 30, 2008 NEWS-SUN STAFF REPORT Mundelein High grad Raffi Mantilla has worked his way into the playing rotation for the Yale University men's basketball team. The sophomore guard has played in all eight Bulldog games (2-6 record), and is averaging nearly 10 minutes of action each game. He's scored a total of 18 points in those eight contests. Mantilla is the grandson of former major-league baseball player Felix Mantilla, who played with the Milwaukee Braves, New York Mets and Boston Red Sox in a long pro career. MFS62 Jan 03 2009 02:29 PM In keeping with the three name thread in the non-baseball forum, I'll always remember him as Felix Lamela Mantilla. (I dunno why, but his middle name always stuck in my mind) Later Edgy DC Jan 03 2009 02:31 PM Yup, and time to retire Brogna 2008.

HahnSolo wrote: Why did Billy only last one year (a 97-win year) with the Twins? Just as FK said. IIRC the book The Bronx Is Burning actually delves more into it, where it seems there was a bit of an uprising from fans in Minny (I believe it was Minny as opposed to his next stop, Detroit) where they were upset that he was fired.

Gwreck wrote: ="SteveJRogers"]Some sort of rock concert with I think Springsteen. Don't bet the farm on that. Why? Is he in the middle of an overseas tour at the moment?

Well, as much as I'd love to take on LA, I am hoping this will be a nice Playoff Preview.

="SJR":3355a25c]I'm going to assume that 7 and 5 will be done by Reyes and Wright respectively anyway. [/quote:3355a25c] ="HahnSolo":3355a25c]Eddie Kranepool tonight.[/quote:3355a25c] Yeah, there goes that theory. HahnSolo Sep 23 2008 11:52 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Sep 23 2008 12:14 PM Press notes say HoJo tonight. didn't he do it a couple weeks ago? EDIT: one page back on this thread Greg tells us that HoJo had the honors for #9. Benjamin Grimm Sep 23 2008 11:58 AM Maybe they think he's a Lincoln Mercury dealer. G-Fafif Sep 23 2008 12:08 PM Oughta Be 6... ]Shea Stadium, ladies and gentlemen, has been known as many things through its 45-year life, but one of the most accurate descriptions attached to it is "pitcher's park," in deference to its fair dimensions, its symmetry and probably its pitchers in residence. Every Mets pitcher who has succeeded here would be quick to tell you the park was made that much better for pitching by defense. Pitching and defense...the key ingredients to so many magical Mets moments at Shea Stadium. Though Shea is rightly celebrated for some of the finest pitchers to have toed a rubber anywhere since 1964, tonight we tip our cap to the other part of the equation: to defense, particularly the most memorable defensive plays to unfold right here at Shea. It is easy enough to be blinded by offense, but defense can mean the difference between winning and losing championships. Consider the great catches that have ensured titles, like the one Willie Mays made at the first home of the Mets, the Polo Grounds, in 1954 when he tracked down one of the longest fly balls imaginable. And consider as well the infamous plays, like the one that took place in the Polo Grounds exactly 100 years ago today. On September 23, 1908, it was the Chicago Cubs visiting New York, just as it is on September 23, 2008. Then the home team was the Giants. Then leadership for the National League pennant was on the line. Then the winning run seemed to have scored on a two-out, Giant base hit in the ninth � except a young player named Fred Merkle didn't advance from first to second on the single, a common enough practice at the time. The Cubs' Johnny Evers got hold of a baseball, stepped on second and convinced the umpires that the game should not be ruled over. Unfathomable controversy ensued with the upshot being the game having to be replayed at the end of the season. The Cubs would beat the Giants for the flag and the legend of Merkle's Boner � an unfortunate sobriquet � was born. We digress...perhaps. Let us get on with honoring Shea's most memorable defensive plays as prelude to removing number 6 as an essential component of the Countdown Like It Oughta Be. We start in left field with a ball that was surely leaving the ballpark...and with it, most likely, the Mets' hopes of winning the East. Fate and some airtight execution, however, had something else to say about it. It was September 20, 1973. The batter was Dave Augustine of the first-place Pirates. Richie Zisk was the runner on first. The score was tied at three in the top of the thirteenth inning. Bob Murphy will describe what happened when Augustine swung: The two-one pitch...hit in the air to left field, it's deep...back goes Jones, by the fence...it's hits the TOP of the fence, comes back in play, Jones GRABS it...the relay throw to the plate, THEY MAY GET HIM...HE'S OUT! HE'S OUT AT THE PLATE. The famous Ball Off The Wall play indeed ended at home when the catcher, a rookie who had started the season at Double-A Memphis, blocked Zisk from scoring and tagged him for the third out. For good measure, that very same rookie catcher came up in the bottom of the thirteenth and drove in the winning run to propel the Mets toward their You Gotta Believe finish in 1973. From that night on, this dependable backstop was a Shea Stadium fixture clear through to 1984. Score it 7-5-2 and welcome back Ron Hodges. We return to left field for our next play. It is yet another night with everything on the line. The inning is the sixth. The score is tied at one. The runner on first for the St. Louis Cardinals is Jim Edmonds. The batter is Scott Rolen. The setting is the National League Championship Series, the seventh and deciding game. Gary Cohen tells us what happened next: Perez deals. Fastball hit in the air to left field, that's deep. Back goes Chavez, back near the wall...leaping...and...HE MADE THE CATCH! HE TOOK A HOME RUN AWAY FROM ROLEN! Trying to get back to first Edmonds...HE'S DOUBLED OFF! AND THE INNING IS OVER! ENDY CHAVEZ SAVED THE DAY! He reached high over the left field wall, right in front of the visitors' bullpen and pulled back a two-run homer. He went to the apex of his leap and caught it in the webbing of his glove with his elbow up above the fence, a MIRACULOUS play by Endy Chavez, and then Edmonds is doubled off first and Oliver Perez escapes the sixth inning. The play of the year, the play, maybe, of the franchise history for Endy Chavez, the inning is over. It was as sensational a catch as it was a call and it will live on as long as anyone remembers Shea Stadium. Score it 7-4-2 and say hi to the left fielder who leapt as no one had leapt before, Endy Chavez. From left we move to centerfield, another postseason, an ultimately happier ending. Let's listen to Curt Gowdy and Lindsey Nelson describe the indelible highlights of the third game of the 1969 World Series. First with Elrod Hendricks up and two Oriole runners on in the third inning: The count is no balls, two strikes. There's a drive into deep left-center...racing hard is Agee...WHAT A GRAB! TOM AGEE saves two runs! Tommie Agee going all the way to track, look at the backhand stab of the glove, and now he'll have to brake himself with the bare hand on the wall, a lot of white showing, look at that ball! Boy he just had that one, Lindsey. Standing ovation for Agee as he comes in. Next with Paul Blair batting and the bases full of Birds in the seventh: The count is oh and two. And it is a fly ball, it'll be tough to get to, and Agee is going and Agee...makes a diving catch, he's out! This man has possibly saved five runs in this game. Watch it in slow motion. The wind is blowing out now, and Agee twice has clutched this ball in the webbing of his glove, once against Hendricks with two on and two out, this time with the bases loaded and two out, a skidding sprawl and another standing ovation for him when he came in. Let's move one day forward and over to right field as long as we're in 1969. It's Game Four, the ninth inning of the tensest of World Series thrillers. Tom Seaver is on the mound leading 1-0. Orioles are on first and third, Frank Robinson the lead runner. Brooks Robinson at bat. Hall of Famers are everywhere, when somebody else enters the picture: And there's a drive to right-center. Swoboda...comes up with it. The tag at third, here comes Frank Robinson, the game is tied. Ron SWOBODA making another sensational catch for the Mets; Frank Robinson, the old veteran...they're going to appeal at third that Robinson left too quickly. But Frank Robinson...here is that grab, look at that, Lindsey! Beautiful catch by Ron Swoboda... Beautiful catches all around, beautiful month to be a Mets fan, thanks in no small part to two outfielders whose legends were firmly established in that World Series. Score it 8, score it 8 again and score it 9. Tommie Agee indeed saved five runs on two spectacular grabs in the third game and Ron Swoboda dove across the right field wall and held the Orioles in check to allow Seaver to finish the ninth with the game tied at one. It would be won in the tenth and the Series would be secured by the Mets the next afternoon. To commemorate those three immortal catches from the most Amazin' week Shea Stadium ever saw, please welcome the wife of the late Tommie Agee, Maxcine Agee and, escorting her to join Ron Hodges and Endy Chavez as they march toward number 6 around in right, Ron Swoboda. But they will have company. No retelling of the great plays in Mets history would be complete without this one. We give you Bob Murphy and Gary Thorne, the tenth inning of the sixth game of the 1986 World Series, Mookie Wilson swinging: And the pitch by Stanley...and a ground ball, trickling...it is a fair ball...GETS BY BUCKNER! Rounding third Knight! The Mets will win the ballgame! The Mets win! They win! Unbelievable, the Red Sox in stunned disbelief! Yes, stunned disbelief...everybody was immersed in it in the early hours of October 26, 1986. The Mets were one out � one strike � from elimination, but a never-say-die rally, capped by a play that would be scored E-3 and go down in unforgettable baseball history with Merkle's Boner, forestalled elimination, and by Monday night the Mets would be world champions once more. One man was at the center of the action in Game Six. His moment in the first base spotlight overshadowed an absolutely brilliant career that deserves to be remembered for 2,715 hits, a batting title, an All-Star berth and a track record of hustle that allowed him to persevere as a Major Leaguer from 1969 until 1990, making him one of the few to ever play in four different decades. It is testament to the kind of man he is that he graces us with his presence tonight, aware as he is of the historical significance of what we're doing as we close Shea Stadium. Ladies and gentlemen, heading to right from the most memorable defensive play ever in this or maybe any ballpark, number 6 on the 1986 Boston Red Sox himself, Bill Buckner. AG/DC Sep 23 2008 12:12 PM Ouch. Reyo sits home and wonders. G-Fafif Sep 23 2008 12:17 PM ="AG/DC":2o2w9a1z]Ouch. Reyo sits home and wonders.[/quote:2o2w9a1z] Rey-O came out with the '99ers to take down No. 15. Suckerpunched Luis Lopez on the team bus to grab the last spot (he'd been waiting nine years to get even). HahnSolo Sep 23 2008 12:24 PM So if HoJo is doing it for the second time in 12 days, can we assume somebody backed out today? Benjamin Grimm Sep 23 2008 12:33 PM I think they should get one of the stadium ushers to dress as the ghost of Nino Espinosa. Frayed Knot Sep 23 2008 12:44 PM Nah, you couldn't get a white sheet to fit over that 'fro. metirish Sep 23 2008 12:49 PM Is Julia Ruth Stevens still in town? seawolf17 Sep 23 2008 12:50 PM Nino Espinosa's dead? G-Fafif Sep 23 2008 01:25 PM Almost as distressing as Nino Espinosa's demise: Derek Jeter has 26 more regular-season hits at Shea Stadium than George The Stork Theodore. G-Fafif Sep 24 2008 11:02 AM Oughta Be 5... ]If this week is about anything, ladies and gentlemen, it is about this: closure. We say goodbye to Shea Stadium and we aim to do it definitively. We wish to put a bow on a yearlong celebration and tie it tight. We don't want our home of 45 years to be cast off without the most complete and satisfying ending possible. We hope we can say the same about Shea's final season. That we can't do anything about at this point. If we could, we'd do it every year...and we'd present for your consideration directly a far larger procession than we are about to. Instead, we give you two men who will team to take down number 5 in the Countdown Like It Oughta Be. They are well suited to provide closure to Shea Stadium because these two men provided the greatest closure there is at Shea Stadium. They caught the final outs of the two World Series won by the New York Mets. Ironically, their stories are as much about beginnings as they are about closure. Each man became a Met and elicited a great deal of anticipation for what he might one day bring to the team. In both cases, their output was suspected to be pretty good. Nobody could have rightly dreamed that each would grasp a baseball that would clinch spots at the top of the baseball world in their respective dream seasons. Start with our first man. He commenced his Met career in the veritable dark ages, 1963, in a far-away land known as the Polo Grounds. While his big league debut predated Shea Stadium, it was just a taste of things to come. He didn't arrive as a full-time, full-fledged Met until 1966. It would take a little while for it to become apparent that everything fans were hearing about "the Youth of America" wasn't hype. It was the real thing. Come 1968, there could be no doubt Mets fans were watching not just a good prospect, but a leftfielder who was the finest everyday player the Mets had signed and developed to date. He'd hold that distinction for years to come and remains, even now, one of the crown jewels ever polished by the Met system. He'd hold something else as well. He'd hold a fly ball hit in the bottom of the ninth inning of the fifth game of the 1969 World Series. There were two outs when Baltimore Orioles second baseman Davey Johnson hit it toward him. When he caught it, there were three � and the Mets had reached their sport's pinnacle. Ladies and gentlemen, the man who caught the ball that made the Mets world champions in 1969, Cleon Jones. Our second man took a different route to Shea. His started on another club, in a different country. His reputation as one of the best at his position preceded him. It's what made him so attractive to the Mets and their fans. When he was acquired in exchange for a hefty bounty of young talent, it was agreed that he was truly worth it, that he could be the honest-to-goodness difference between the Mets being fine and the Mets being, as they were when Cleon Jones played left field, Amazin'. This man, a catcher, indeed constituted that kind of difference. He played hard, he played hurt, he played brilliantly. He was a rock behind the plate, a fearsome threat when he stood at it. His mere presence transformed the Met lineup in 1985 and established it as the one that would dominate throughout 1986. And when he went into his final crouch of the 1986 postseason and caught a pitch that Jesse Orosco threw and Marty Barrett swung through, he, like Cleon Jones, found in his mitt not just a baseball, but a switch. When he grasped that ball, it was akin to pulling the switch that electrified an entire city. Ladies and gentlemen, the man who caught the ball that made the Mets world champions in 1986, Gary Carter. Cleon, Gary, you honor us by peeling No. 5 together, by reminding us for one more moment apiece what it was like at Shea Stadium when the Mets ascended to the top of the baseball world. To honor you back, the New York Mets and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation are thrilled to announce the creation of two installations that will greet visitors to the Queens Museum, adjacent to the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. One is of a leftfielder cradling a fly ball. One is of a catcher snapping shut his mitt on strike three. You'll find their faces and forms very familiar. Cleon Jones' and Gary Carter's defining Met actions will then, for all time, be represented on the site of Shea Stadium's spiritual sibling, the 1964 World's Fair, symbolizing for generations to come the moments when they and their Met teammates made Flushing the undisputed capital of the baseball world. HahnSolo Sep 24 2008 01:26 PM Real life gives us Ed Charles, another repeat number revealer. I believe he did it on Jackie Robinson night back in April. HahnSolo Sep 25 2008 12:51 PM Nails tonight. Benjamin Grimm Sep 25 2008 12:57 PM ="HahnSolo":1rt22vzi]Nails tonight.[/quote:1rt22vzi] That's nice, but I think we could use a visit from a guy dressed as the ghost of Tug McGraw. G-Fafif Sep 25 2008 01:03 PM Oughta Be 4... ]Listen closely, ladies and gentlemen, to the following recording: From beautiful Shea Stadium in Flushing, New York, the New York Mets are on the air. That was the very first sentence ever spoken on a home team radio broadcast from this building. The second sentence from that momentous occasion tells you everything you need to know about whom we are proud to honor via the removal of number 4 in our Countdown Like It Oughta Be: Well hi everybody, this is Bob Murphy with Lindsey Nelson and Ralph Kiner, all set to detail every exciting moment of the historic opening of Shea Stadium as the New York Mets meet the Pittsburgh Pirates. That, in two sentences, is the sound of home, the sound of the home team, the sound of Shea Stadium. You didn't need to be at Shea to hear that voice, the voice of Bob Murphy; nor did you need to buy a ticket to hear the voices who joined him on April 17, 1964, Lindsey Nelson and Ralph Kiner. These three sons of Oklahoma and Tennessee and California formed a brotherhood and bridged the gap from the ballpark in Queens to the Mets fan who, for whatever reason, couldn't be here. They painted the word picture of the first Shea Stadium opener, just as they did at the Polo Grounds, just as they would do on the road. They did it, no matter that they came from elsewhere, as true New York icons. They did it together and they did it forever. Or so it seemed. From 1962 through 1978 � a mind-boggling, heartwarming seventeen seasons of balls and strikes, wins and losses, ups and downs, missteps and miracles and always, you just knew, another Mets game � they did it brilliantly. The trio of Bob Murphy, Lindsey Nelson and Ralph Kiner was beloved, of course. They were rightly celebrated, famous far and wide and esteemed in the ears of all of their colleagues around baseball. But did you, the loyal Mets fan, realize that when you listened to Bob and Linsdey and Ralph that you were part of history, as much a part of history as any of the 50,312 in attendance for Shea's first game? You were listening to the broadcasting triumvirate that endured as a three-man team longer than any in the annals of Major League Baseball. If you grew up a Mets fan between 1962 and 1978, you never knew there could be another announcer. You didn't need another announcer. You had the three best in the world. You had the home team. Nothing lasts forever, we know. The trio broke up at last after 1978 when Lindsey Nelson left for the West Coast. Other announcers, fine announcers, came and filled in. Other voices would weave themselves into the Met tapestry. But there was something about those first three that made them forever the home team at Shea Stadium. Fortunately for Mets fans, the rest of the team stayed intact. Ralph Kiner and Bob Murphy may have taken on different roles for most of the quarter-century that followed Lindsey Nelson's departure; Ralph was television, Murph radio. But there was no doubt they defined home for the Mets as much as Shea did, as much as any player could have. When you dropped by Kiner's Korner or you reveled in the Happy Recap, you knew you were nowhere but at a Mets game. It was as if you had come to Shea for the day after all and were, as the song promised, guaranteed to have the time of your life. "Plenty of good seats still available," Bob and Lindsey and Ralph used to remind the motorists who might be tooling by on the Grand Central. Yet, we can now say without fear of undermining walkup sales, there was no better seat at Shea than the seat closest to the speaker of your radio or your television between 1962 and 1978. Taking in a ballgame with Bob Murphy, Lindsey Nelson and Ralph Kiner was an experience not to be topped � only repeated into blissful perpetuity. Lindsey passed away in 1995. We lost Murph in 2004. Ralph, thankfully, remains with us to this day. You have heard him on SNY in 2008 as you heard him on Channel 9 decade after decade; as you heard him on Opening Day in 1964 over WHN radio; as you heard him narrate the Mets' birth, the Mets' youth and the Mets' maturity as the Mets and you grew up in tandem. Ralph Kiner, we know your Korner originated in left field at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh where you established your Hall of Fame credentials, but for tonight, we beg your indulgence as we ask you, Bob's wife Joye Murphy and Lindsey's daughter Nancy Nelson Wyszynski to pile into the backseat of our 1964 Cadillac convertible � what else for a home run hitter? � and be chauffeured out to right field by two of your most faithful prot�g�s, Gary Cohen and Howie Rose. Number 4 was your number in your playing career and number 4 is for you to represent once more � for you; for your Hall of Fame broadcasting partner and brother Bob Murphy; for your Hall of Fame broadcasting partner and brother Lindsey Nelson; and for your family of an audience, the incalculable millions who joined you at Shea from wherever they sat year after year, whether you could hear them or not. They sure heard you. AG/DC Sep 25 2008 01:29 PM Lindsey Nelson, inductee into 15 Halls of Fame. HahnSolo Sep 25 2008 01:40 PM There's a Loud Jacket Hall of Fame? G-Fafif Sep 26 2008 11:59 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Sep 26 2008 01:15 PM In real life, Buddy Harrelson to reveal number 3. Oughta Be 3 is very high concept. Stay with me here... ]"Good evening, everybody. You may be wondering what's going on down here. "Well, I'm Joan Hodges, the wife of Gil Hodges. You fans voted my husband the manager on the Mets' All-Amazin' Team when the Mets celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2002. It was such an honor considering Gil had been gone thirty years by then. He would have been so touched. "The All-Amazin' Team was quite a roster and as part of the Countdown Like It Oughta Be, the Mets had the idea to reassemble it one more time to take down the number 3 from the right field wall. This time, however, they and we wanted to make it extra special. "That's why you see behind me a set of bleachers that's been brought out behind second base, and that's why you see every member of the All-Amazin' Team sitting in those bleachers. "I know it's usually you folks in the stands. Tonight, it's our turn. We're the fans tonight. We're here to see you, to cheer you and to applaud you, the Mets fans. "The fellows are going to come up to his microphone one by one and tell you a little about what it's meant to play at Shea Stadium and what it's meant to play in front of you people. They asked me to start the ball rolling by speaking for Gil. "I think if he were here, Gil would tell you that it was an honor for him to come back to New York after the Dodgers moved to California, that there was nowhere else he ever wanted to play. We loved playing in Brooklyn and we loved those first Mets teams even if we weren't very good. I know it was the pinnacle of his career to get the Mets' managerial job in 1968 and to win the World Series just one year later...he was thrilled. You know Gil didn't show a lot of emotion, but let me tell you I had one happy husband in 1969. "Gil loved his players and he loved the Mets fans. I want to thank you one more time for being so good to him then and to me all these years and remembering Gil when you voted him the manager of the All-Amazin' Team. We had some great times in this stadium. "I'm going to go sit in the bleachers now and let the ballplayers take it the rest of the way." *** "Hi everybody, I'm Roger McDowell and you voted me the righthanded relief pitcher on the All-Amazin' Team. You might want to ask for a recount, but I'm grateful. I truly am. "I wouldn't miss being here for the world, even though it wasn't the easiest thing getting the night off from my current job. No truth to the rumor I had to give Bobby Cox a hotfoot, but I suppose if you thought I had, you'd think pretty highly of me. "Only kidding if Bobby is listening. He's a good guy. "Every one of us agreed we'd talk a little bit about our experiences at Shea Stadium and playing for you fans. The first game I pitched in here was April 11, 1985, the second game of the year. One-two-three eleventh inning and then the guys scored a run for me and got me the win. That's what some people call 'vulturing'. I tell you what I really remember, though, was two days before that, my first Opening Day, the day we beat the Cardinals when Gary Carter hit the home run in the tenth to win. I'd never seen a place so excited in my whole life. And that was only the beginning. "My 4-1/2 seasons as a Met were something else. We won the World Series and we went to the playoffs another time. I played with some great teammates, a few of whom are here behind me. And I saw how much people could care about baseball. Even when you booed me � and, again, I'm sorry about throwing the fastball to Willie McGee instead of the slider...and then not getting Pendleton � there was something almost beautiful about it. It was great to play ball in front of people who cared like that. "Being traded away hurt, but coming back whenever I do is sweet. Thank you for giving me that feeling when I pitched and thanks for giving it to me again." *** "Yeah, hi. I'm Lenny Dykstra and you voted me one of the outfielders on the All-Amazin' Team. Like Roger said, there was probably a mix-up in the counting. C'mon, where's Cleon? He was here more than twice as long. Dude hit .340 one year! "Seriously, that was a great thing you did, especially considering I'd been on the Phillies and I know how ya feel about them. I'm with Roger, though. I didn't wanna go. I'm not saying it wasn't good and all, but you guys are the best. Once you've played in New York, once you've played for the New York FREAKING Mets at Shea freaking Stadium � can I say 'freaking'?...Tom says I can � what's the point of playing anywhere else? "My first game at Shea, and they had to look this up for me 'cause I'm not Rain Man or anything, was May 7, 1985. I had come up in Cincinnati, somebody was injured, I don't remember, but my first home game I was pinch-running for George Foster. Then, next thing I know, they send me down. Thanks Davey. "But you know, they brought me back in June and Davey starts me and it's Doc against the Cubs and he strikes out nine and this place is going nuts and we win 1-0. Man, I'd never seen anything like it. This was the place for me. "I'll never forget '86. I've got millions of dollars now � don't get mad at me, 'cause I could just as easily lose it � but I don't think you can pay for the experiences I had. The homer off Dave Smith to win the playoff game against Houston...the World Series...man, this place shook. When you're a kid playing Strat-O-Matic, they don't tell you the ballpark can shake, but this one did. "You guys, man, you made it shake. It's like I can still feel it. You can't put a price on it. If anyone could, I would, but I can't, y'know? So thanks. It was so freaking Nails playing in front of you here." *** "Hello, Mets fans. I'm Rusty Staub and you voted me one of the pinch-hitters on the All-Amazin' Team. I appreciated that a great deal. I worked real hard to become good at pinch-hitting. It's a specialized craft. I worked real hard at playing the outfield, too. "Unlike most of these men, I'd been coming to Shea for an awful long time before I was ever a Met. My first game in this ballpark, and Lenny isn't alone in having to be reminded of this, was June 2, 1964, the very first year Shea Stadium was opened. I was a Houston Colt 45, which they don't have anymore. I came in here and you couldn't help be awed by how big this place was, how modern it all was for 1964. The Astrodome wasn't built yet. Neither was anything else new except in L.A. and maybe San Francisco, so Shea was it. The Mets beat us that night, 7-4, so I can't say I was too fond of the result, but I was impressed. "I played for the Mets the first time on April 15, 1972, after they traded me from the Montreal Expos, another team that doesn't exist anymore. I hope I'm not a plague! It was definitely a different feeling, playing in New York and having people root hard for me as opposed to against me, but it was a good feeling. I got a hit my first time up off Dock Ellis and we won and it looked like a pretty good year. Unfortunately, my hand got broken and I was out and we had a lot of injuries and that was more or less that. "Next year, same thing but you know, we got hot at the right time and we got incredible pitching and we made the playoffs. I managed to get myself hurt again on that wall behind us, but we beat a great Reds club and we took a great Oakland club to seven games. It was a wild scene here that October. Wild and cold, but mostly wild. "All those planes, too, all those years. I don't care to fly, but it's tough to ignore the planes. It rattled the pitchers more than it did me. I wouldn't step out. I think it helped me. "I didn't get to play the rest of my career in New York, but I was elated when Frank Cashen brought me back as a free agent and I took a lot of pride in my pinch-hitting � almost as much as I did in my ribs. It was very fulfilling to be here when the Mets got good again, to play with all those kids who were coming along then and make some of my best friends in baseball. I wish I could have hung on one more year, to make it to 1986, but that's how it goes. "I'll never forget playing in Shea Stadium and I'll never forget the Mets fans. You were and are the best fans in all of baseball and you have no idea what it means to have that kind of support. So thank you again for the honor and thank you for all the great years." *** "Hi, I'm Howard Johnson, or HoJo as you probably know me. You voted me the third baseman on the All-Amazin' Team and I just wanna say I'm glad the balloting was done when David Wright was still in the minors. "Seriously, like Big Orange just said, it was an honor. I have to admit I came to New York a little scared of the big city. Not that Detroit wasn't big, but nothing's like New York. And I had never seen Shea Stadium except from the air. My first time in, like Roger, was Opening Day '85 against the Cards, April 9. My first time up, I walked with the bases loaded. Easy way to get your first ribby and your first cheers. It was like Rog' said, just a really big, really loud place, but really big and really loud for us. "I wasn't what you'd call a fully formed player, maybe, when I came over to the Mets, but you guys were great. Sometimes you gave me a hard time when I booted one or lunged after a breaking pitch in the dirt, but you were really good to me all those years. Just being on the field, behind home plate when Ray Knight scored the winning run in the sixth game of the World Series...I didn't do anything, but I was as excited as I'd ever been on a ballfield. I guess I was like you that night: I was the world's biggest Mets fan. "I gotta echo what the other guys said. There's nowhere to play but New York, nowhere. I learned that when I left and it's probably why I tried to come back a few years later. It's been a thrill to make it back as a coach and I'll always love this organization, the guys I played with and you fans. Thanks for everything and God bless you." *** "Hello. My name is Jerry Koosman and you voted me the lefthanded starter on the All-Amazin' Team. Thank you for that. "You talk about nervous. I'm from Minnesota, Appleton, a farm. And then I make the team out of Spring Training in 1967 and before I know it, Wes Westrum is bringing me in to pitch relief against the Phillies. It was April 22. I had a good first inning. Like Roger, it was a one-two-three inning. Clay Dalrymple was my first batter. Clay gave Tom fits, but I got him that day. "Anyway, Johnny Briggs tagged me for a homer in the next inning and before I knew it I was headed back down. I really wasn't ready in '67 for the big club. I was in nine games the whole year and we lost all nine. But the next year, Gil was managing and I made the team again and it was a whole new ballgame as they say. Not just for me but for the Mets. "Shea Stadium was a special place in those years, '68, '69. I wish all of you in the stands tonight could have been here when we won the World Series. Maybe some of you were. What a thrill it was to be on the mound in that fifth game. Perfect, cool day. And what a crowd on the field! But they were the nicest people. New Yorkers are the best, especially Mets fans. I never felt not at home when I pitched at Shea. Best mound in the league outside Dodger Stadium, fair dimensions, wonderful ownership with Mrs. Payson and everybody, the best teammates and you fans. I loved being Jerry Koosman of the New York Mets and I always will. Thank you and God bless." *** "Hi, this is John Franco. You voted me lefthanded reliever on the All-Amazin' Team, which is amazing in itself considering I couldn't always tell if you guys really liked me. "Only kidding. Thank you for the honor. It meant a lot for a kid from the Marlboro Houses in Bensonhurst to be thought of that way. I grew up here, too, y'know, right in this ballpark. I grew up rooting for Tug McGraw, a lefty like me, and he wore 45 and then one day years later I'm doing what he did where he did it and thanks to Mike coming over, I'm wearing 45 just like him. And then you go and tell me I'm the greatest lefthanded reliever the Mets have ever had. It really meant a lot. "There was a time the only way I could get in here was with Dairylea milk coupons. We'd cut 'em off the sides of the cartons and take the subway. More than one train, believe me. Then I got to come here with the Reds. My first game at Shea was July 6, 1984, the first game of a doubleheader. I got Darryl to ground out to first. We lost anyway. Got to pitch in the nightcap, too. Imagine being used like that. I threw a scoreless inning, but we were swept. "I never stopped being a Mets fan, even when I had to get Darryl and Mex and everybody out. I came to the fourth playoff game in '88 against the Dodgers. Me and my brother left to beat the traffic. We figured Doc had it in hand. Wished I could have been pitching the ninth. I did good against Scioscia. Lefty-lefty. "It was a dream come true to pitch here and have my family watch me, so when I became a Met in 1990 and they could root out loud for me and not fear for their lives, that was even better. Of course my first Opening Day was delayed by the lockout and we got our butt kicked by the Pirates. The fans weren't in a good mood that day, but I picked up the save for Frankie Viola the next game and they treated me good. Wasn't always the case, but I tried my best and I understood what it was like to save up to come to a game and then get let down sometimes. I tried to remember anyway. "Shea wasn't technically the nicest ballpark in the world, I suppose. It was like the city housing I grew up in, and anything built by the city's probably not going to be all that nice. But you couldn't beat playing here in front of Mets fans when things were going good. I had that love/hate relationship with all of you, I guess, but when we finally made the playoffs in '99 � or at least were going to the one-game playoff in Cincinnati � I got the biggest cheers of my career. I'm grateful for that. Same when we beat the Cardinals in 2000 and we were going to the World Series. That was a thrill. "There were a lot of thrills in this building for me. Some of them were from sitting in general admission in the upper deck. Some of them were on the mound saving games, or at least trying to. I always tried my best and I know Mets fans always tried their best. In the end, I think we were meant for each other. Thanks for being there for me and thanks for letting me be there for you." *** "Hi everybody! I'm Mookie Wilson. You voted me to the All-Amazin' Team as one of the outfielders. I'm not gonna argue the choice. "I loved playing in New York. LOVED it! I'm from a small town in South Carolina. I'd played in small towns in the minors. When I married my wife Rosa, I told her I couldn't give her a diamond, so I did the next best thing: we got married on a diamond, in Jackson, Mississippi. I thought Jackson was a big city. "But THIS...this is what I call a diamond. And you fans are the gems that made it sparkle. Nobody ever booed me here. If they did, I couldn't tell. That's the great thing about 50,000 people calling you 'Mooookie'. If you were trying to spare my feelings, I appreciate that, too. "My first game at Shea Stadium was September 10, 1980, against the Phillies. Went 0-for-4 and was batting .161. But nobody got down on me. I figured out pretty early that New Yorkers would get behind you as long as you kept running and kept hustling. So that's what I did. I would have done it anyway, but every one of you made it that much more worth doing. "When we won in those days, it was a big deal. My first full year I hit a home run to win a game off Bruce Sutter. You'd have thought we'd won the pennant right there. That was a few years away. When we did it, when we won the World Series...well, it was the greatest feeling a ballplayer can have. I'm so glad we could do it here in front of the Mets fans. Same for the sixth game which some of you have told me was a good game, too. "I had a couple of nice years in Toronto at the end of my career and the Canadians were nice folks, but they weren't Mets fans. They'd chant 'Moo-KEY" and I was thinking, don't they know how to pronounce it? Everybody here tells me. They tell me they named their dogs and cats after me. I guess that's a compliment. It's nice to know people remember you however they remember you. "I came back here with the Blue Jays for an exhibition game right before my final year. I got a huge ovation. Maybe it was because the game didn't count. But it was wonderful to know I was remembered, even if I wasn't wearing the right uniform that day. I know I'll always remember wearing the Mets uniform and I know I'll always remember you and remember Shea Stadium. Thank you and God bless you." *** "Hello everybody. My name is Ed Kranepool and you voted me one of the pinch-hitters on the All-Amazin' Team. I guess you couldn't vote me the first baseman after Keith Hernandez got here. But I pinch-hit a little, so that was great. "I was here, at Shea, at the beginning. My first game was April 17, 1964, the day they opened the stadium. Casey pinch-hit me then, too, come to think of it. I was looking forward to Shea being built even when they were playing in the Polo Grounds. The Mets even brought me out here in high school to see where I'd be playing. I couldn't have dreamed I'd be playing here for sixteen years. "What Johnny was saying about love/hate, I can relate. There was a banner one time: 'Is Ed Kranepool over the hill?' I think I was 21 then. Tough crowd. But I'm a New Yorker, so I got it. I got a lot of it, actually, and I probably deserved some of it. We weren't a very good team and the fans couldn't have been used to that. This was New York. New York had championships. We weren't going to do that right away. "But we had a lot of good young players and then we got Gil Hodges and he pointed us the way. I didn't always get along with Gil, Joan, but I sure came to respect him and appreciate him. Everybody who played for him did. I wasn't surprised when he was named the all-time manager. No disrespect to anybody else. "1969 was the high point, especially getting to hit a home run in the third game. I was working offseasons as a stockbroker and when it came across the ticker that I had homered � they used to play the World Series during the day, you know � I hear it nearly caused a riot on Wall Street. It was that kind of year. Man landed on the moon, Ed Kranepool hit a home run in the World Series and the Mets were champions. Wow. "I got older and I tried to get wiser and I played a little less and I learned to pinch-hit. I guess when you saw less of me you came to like me more because every time I came out on-deck the cry would go up: 'Eddie! Eddie!'. It's nice to be thought enough of for that. I thought maybe you were doing it for Eddie Giacomin of the Rangers or something, but it was for me. That was gratifying. It really was. "Maybe it felt a little less thrilling at Shea as the years went by and we weren't so good again and there weren't a lot of fans here. I can't say I blamed you. Too bad. There was no place like Shea when it was packed and everybody was screaming, even if they weren't screaming for me. I'll never forget how on the final homestand when I was a player nobody asked me to put them on my pass list. No one. Being a New Yorker, I always got asked. I guess it's no wonder the team was on the verge of being sold. I was actually part of a group that tried to buy it, too. Too much money. "I wish I could have hung on a little longer and played with some of these guys behind me and been part of the revival. But I've always enjoyed coming back and being a Mets fan. I've never made any banners. I don't know what I'd say if I did. It's always fun to look up at the scoreboard before the games when they list the all-time leaders in hits and games played and stuff like that and my name is still at the top. I can't believe that. Maybe with David and Jose signed to long-term deals that won't be the case forever. They're great kids. "Anyway, I just wanted to say it was an honor to be a New York Met and nothing but a New York Met and I wish you well in whatever you do. Thank you." *** "Hi. My name is Edgardo Alfonzo and you voted me the second baseman on the All-Amazin' Team. Thank you very much. I remember thinking that it was funny I'd be the second baseman because I had just moved back to third base, but I always said I'd play anywhere to help the team. An All-Amazin' team like this one doesn't need much help. "My first game at Shea Stadium was my rookie season, April 30, 1995. I didn't get a hit. Then we went on the road and I had to wait almost two weeks to get my first hit here. It was a double off Steve Avery of the Braves. People cheered me and started calling me Fonzie. I had to ask some of the guys what that meant. I'm from Venezuela and we didn't see all the American TV. "But I loved being Fonzie. I loved playing in New York. You were the most supportive fans and always made me feel at home, whether I was doing good or bad, whether I was playing second or third. Being in the playoffs and the World Series here were the thrills of my life, but it was always a joy and an honor just putting on the Mets uniform and playing with great players like Johnny and Mike and all the rest of the guys and getting to call myself a New Yorker for a few years. Once you're a Met, you're always a Met. "This is where I got started and had my best seasons. This is where I got to be Fonzie, you know? That couldn't have happened anywhere else and I'll always be grateful to you, the fans. Thank you and thank you Shea Stadium." *** "Hello New York! I'm Bud Harrelson and you voted me the shortstop on the All-Amazin' Team. Thank you! And thanks to the New York Mets for having the balloting before Jose Reyes came to the big leagues! Me and HoJo will be in the stands with all of you when time comes for the 50th anniversary probably. "Boy, my first game at Shea. It was September 2, 1965 against Rusty's Astros. We lost 4-3. Big surprise. Rusty hit a homer against us. Another big surprise. Rusty could play. Rusty could even run back then � it's true! "I had been at Buffalo that season and I got called up. Me and Dick Selma. We drove down here and couldn't believe how big this place looked. And that was just on the outside. Everything looks big to me, you know, but Shea really was something else. "We weren't too good when I first got there, but we began to get a lot better when the front office promoted this pitcher from Jacksonville in '67. Seaver was his name, I think. Tom was a winner, you could tell that right away. He made us all better. We all began to think we could be winners, too. I looked around the field sometimes, saw the guys who were here: Tom, Kooz, Grote, Cleon, Tommie, Rocky, Krane, Nolie, Tug...I said to myself, 'Hey, we might not be too bad! Even with me at short!'" "Gil came along and made us believe we were better. That's so important. Everybody in the big leagues has talent. They wouldn't be here if they didn't. But a good attitude can give you that edge and nobody had a better feel for the game than Gil Hodges. "And nobody was a better fan than a Mets fan. Yeah, sometimes we got booed. Y'know what? If we got booed, we probably deserved it. We needed to listen to the fans, run out ground balls, work deeper counts, just play better. I loved playing for fans like you. Anybody who says he wouldn't want to play in New York doesn't know what he's talking about. This place was electric! We had a game in a blackout once and it was electric. Where else you gonna find that? "You made me believe in myself. You made me feel like the king of the world in '69 and '73. Heck, you made me think I could take out Pete Rose! Pete could take me on, but not all of you. Not that I'm condoning any of that stuff, mind you. "It was an honor to play for the Mets and manage the Mets. I wish I could've done a better job. We tried but maybe not hard enough or maybe we just weren't that good. I tried to take after Gil, but as Joan Hodges could tell you, there was only one Gil. I won't tell you I was happy to be asked to take a hike, but that's water under the bridge now. Every time I've come back, you fans have treated me royally and that means a lot. Every time somebody comes up to me at a Ducks game and says they were a Mets fan back in the day, and they remember seeing me when they were a kid...that means everything. No kidding. Don't think because we're 'professionals' that we're not little kids, too. This is a dream come true. Being a ballplayer, being a New York Met right here at Shea Stadium � I couldn't have asked for anything more. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart." *** "Good evening. I'm Darryl Strawberry. You voted me one of the outfielders on the All-Amazin' Team. I've waited six years to thank you in person for that tremendous honor. "I couldn't be here in 2002. I was otherwise detained. I taped a message then and I sent my son in my place, but I looked forward to the day I could come back here and say thanks. "Thanks for caring that much about me, even after I left the Mets. I made a lot of mistakes in my life, but the biggest mistake I ever made in my career was not making sure I stayed a New York Met for all of it. Once you're a Met, you're spoiled. You don't want to be anything else. I had some good years in some other places, but my heart was always with the Mets and with you Mets fans. I hope you believe that because I know it's true. "My first game at Shea Stadium was my first game in the big leagues, on May 6, 1983. One minute I'm in Tidewater, the next I'm batting third in front of Dave Kingman and George Foster. It wasn't easy. Almost hit one out that first night, but it went foul. "I always wanted to do my best for you fans. I came out and said the next year that I was gonna be the leader of the Mets. I can't believe how young I was. I was in a clubhouse with Keith Hernandez talking about being a leader. I wished I had done a little less talking when I was that young, but you live and you learn. "We had a great team. Doc and Ronnie and Sid and Roger and Jesse made it easy. Keith was truly a leader. Then Gary came. Two Hall of Famers as far as I was concerned. All the guys � Lenny and Hoj' and Ray Knight and Wally Backman and Mazz and Mookie and George and Dougie and Rafael Santana. You couldn't have asked for better teammates. You couldn't have asked for a better manager than Davey Johnson. We didn't always see eye to eye, but I see now the man knew his baseball. We were lucky to have him. "It's funny. I became 'Daaaryl' in Fenway Park, but I really felt like something special here. They had a Strawberry Sunday for me my second year. I thought that was great. I always wanted to make every day Strawberry Sunday. I always wanted to hit the highest and long home runs for you fans. Maybe that's why I struck out too much. Still, you made me Straw and I'll always be Straw thanks to you. "It was fantastic winning that championship in '86. It was frustrating knowing that we should have won a couple more, but it was a trip playing here. My life wouldn't have been the same without Shea Stadium and I mean that in a good way. I hope you know how much you all mean to me. You always let me know how much I meant to you. Thank you and God bless." *** "Hi everybody, what's up? I'm Mike Piazza and you voted me the catcher on the All-Amazin' Team. That knocked me out when you did, seeing as how I was following in the footsteps of a whole bunch of great catchers like Gary Carter and Jerry Grote and one of my coaches the Dude John Stearns and Todd Hundley and the home run record he set here. I was still active, too, so it was literally amazing. Thank you. "My first game at Shea Stadium of course was as an enemy, so I'm sorry about that. It was April 27, 1993 and I homered off Doc Gooden. I mean how cool is that? I'm a kid from near Philadelphia and I grew up watching Doctor K on the superstation, WOR, and he's the most awesome pitcher in the game and I'm here in New York and I'm taking him deep? Like it wasn't enough that I was even in the Major Leagues and catching Orel Hershiser that night? Geez! "Of course the real first game in Shea Stadium for me was May 23, 1998, my first game as a Met. Man, that's both one of those days I'll never forget and one of those days I barely remember, y'know? First I'm on the Dodgers, then I'm on the Marlins, then I get a call from my agent Dan telling me the Marlins are trading me to the Cubs, then I go take a shower and when I come out, the phone rings and it turns out I was traded to the Mets. I was confused! "But I straightened out soon enough. It was the best day of my professional life when I became a Met, when I could call Shea Stadium my professional home. Man, I loved being a New York Met. I loved the sound this place made when you did something good as a New York Met. I was fortunate to come here when the team was getting real good, with Johnny and Fonzie and Al and Rick Reed and John Olerud and...I'm gonna forget some guys, but it was a great group. Bobby Valentine was a terrific manager. Really the whole organization exuded class, right up to and including the grounds crew and the security. Everybody. I mean it. "We got close my first year and came up a little bit shy. The next year we got Robin, and Rey-Rey didn't make an error for like a hundred games and we had Rickey Henderson and Orel and...I'm babbling on, but it's all kind of rushing back to me. We nearly missed the playoffs but I'm standing at bat, the last game of the year with the bases loaded and suddenly Melvin Mora is rushing toward me from third base. It's a wild pitch! We're gonna win the game! I saw the tape later and I'm standing there like a statue. Nice goin', Piazza. "We go to the playoffs and I can't play and Todd Pratt hits the series-winning homer to beat Arizona. Figures. I'm supposed to be the big star and the team does better without me! But what a great feeling just to be a part of that team and play those amazing series and to go for it again the next year. I just wish that fly ball I hit in the last game of the World Series had carried a little farther. I guess it's true what they say about Shea being a pitcher's park. "Obviously it's impossible for me to stand in this stadium and not remember the game we played against the Braves after September 11. People said I brought the city back or brought baseball back. Man, I was just doing my job that night. A lot of people a lot more worthy than me in this city did their jobs. That's who I thought about. That's who I still think about. But what an honor to wear this Mets uniform that night and the NYPD helmet, I was never prouder to be a Met or a New Yorker than I was then. "I still am. I liked all the places I played and I appreciated all the fans I played in front of. But how can I not consider myself a New York Met after all we went through together here? You treated me like I was one of you and I hope I didn't let you down. Believe me, if anybody ever asks me how I want to be remembered, I'm going to tell them, without hesitation, as a New York Met. I don't know if they'll listen, but it's on record. "I'm so honored to have been asked to come back to Shea Stadium one more time. It's a great old park and I'll miss it, but I know the new one's gonna be nice and I hope I get to come back there, too. My heart will always be right here in Flushing with all of you. Thank you and God bless all of you." *** "Hello! I'm Keith Hernandez! I'm the All-Amazin' first baseman by your reckoning, so I wanna say thanks. That's great. "Whew! I can't believe we're down to the final weekend at good old Shea Stadium. Just three games: tonight, tomorrow and Sunday. That's incredible. It means I'm old, 'cause I swear I feel like I just got here. "First time I was at Shea was the eleventh of September, 1974. Folks, we played twenty-five innings that night. How do you like that for a how-do-you-do to New York? It's only my second week in the Majors and Red Schoendienst sends me up to pinch-hit against Harry Parker, a real tough righty. I'm leading off the twelfth inning. Kooz started for you guys so you know, lefty versus lefty with the Cardinals in a tight race with the Pirate, I'm not facing Jerry Koosman. I'm just a kid, not quite 21 at that point, and I don't know what I'm doin'. I swing as hard as I can and I loft a flyball to right for the first out. Then there's just lots of sitting around for the next...what was it...twenty-five minus twelve...for the next thirteen innings I'm just sitting around. I thought I had to stay nailed to the bench. I'm a rookie, I don't want to look bad. "So I'm sitting and the thing goes on for hours and I'm thinkin', 'There's still people here!' It gets to be midnight and then one and then two and there's still people in the ballpark! Not that many, but enough. More than you'd believe there'd be at three in the morning which is when I think the game finally ended after Hank Webb threw a pickoff attempt all the way down the first base line and Bake McBride came around to score. Bake could fly! We still had to play the bottom of the twenty-fifth. Sonny Siebert, who'd been a great starter with the Red Sox, when they had Lonborg and Ray Culp, finished it off. I think he got Milner for the last out. "Anyway, that's a long game but you still had the fans here. They loved their Metsies and they always loved their Metsies. Even when I'd come back with the Cardinals after Tom and Kooz and Matlack were gone and they weren't drawing many fans � I'd look up in the upper tank and it would be desolate � the ones who were here were just so intense. Folks, I'm from Northern California. We had some pretty good teams out there when I grew up. We had Mays and McCovey and Cepeda and Marichal on the Giants. We had Reggie Jackson and the A's when I was in high school. And St. Louis was a great baseball town. But c'mon! This was New York! There's no comparison! "I won't lie to you that I was a little in shock when the Cardinals traded me here. I didn't cry. I don't know where that got started, but I didn't cry. I was just surprised. It took me a little while to get my bearings. I came here in '83 and we weren't all that good but I saw who was here. Darryl was obviously a tremendous talent. Mookie had speed to burn. Hubie Brooks could play. Ronnie Darling, he came up in September. I heard about Doc and Lenny and Roger in the minors. And Big Orange, too. He wasn't young or anything but he really got me used to New York. I knew something was coming together, so I told Frank Cashen in the offseason that I wanted to stay. "Best decision i ever made. The next few years were the best years I had in baseball. Not from a statistical standpoint because I hit .344 and won a batting one year, my MVP year, in St. Louis. But the team here was fantastic. We got Gary Carter and say what you will about Gary Carter, he was and is a Hall of Fame catcher and hitter. Doc was amazing, just amazing. Bobby O, they brought him in here and he was just what we needed, a good veteran influence on all those young arms. You had Haji and Knight at third and Danny Heep spelling George Foster and Aguilera came up in the middle of the year I guess it was '84...no, it was '85...it was '85...oh, and El Sid! "Davey Johnson told us we were going to dominate the East. We'd had a close call with Whitey Herzog's Cardinals and the year before that the Cubs were unconscious. But '86, that was our year and we had a big lead and it was one of those years where everything went right. You know what happened, we won the division � some overzealous fan nearly ripped my shoulder out trying to get my glove so now you have to have the horses � then the Houston series and Boston. It was crazy. The seventh game against Hurst...folks, I never felt more confident about an at-bat than I did with the bases loaded in the sixth. I knew I was going to get a base hit. Everything felt right. "And this place exploded. It was like an earthquake, an absolute earthquake, like 55,000 people had exploded. When my hit scored Mazz and Mook, I knew we were going to win. No doubt about it. We would've scored more in the sixth, too, except Dale Ford made the slowest call of his life when Dwight Evans didn't catch Gary's ball and I was forced out at second 'cause I didn't know if it was a putout or what. Ed was a great ump, but you've gotta tell the baserunner in that situation. Gary tied the game up but we should've had more. "I should probably wrap this up because I know they have a game to get back to, but I wanted to say I loved being a Met, love working for the Mets and SNY and loved playing here more than anything else in my career. You can't beat playing in New York, and I should know. I played in Cleveland for a year and I was miserable. I just retired after that. It's like you can't play in Cleveland after being on the Metsies. No offense to Cleveland, it just wasn't for me. I take full responsibility. I was a free agent and I had to move on, the time was right, but if I had it to do all over again, I'd have stayed a Met or just gone ahead and retired. It wasn't worth it. "Thank you, Mets fans! I love you!" *** "Hello. I'm Tom Seaver and I have the unenviable task of following Keith Hernandez. "But seriously, you voted me your All-Amazin' righthanded starting pitcher so of course I want to acknowledge that. "I want to acknowledge the role Shea Stadium played in my career. My first start was here was against the Pirates on April 13, 1967. The first batter I faced was Matty Alou, Moises' uncle. He got me for a double. But I settled down, got Maury Wills and the great Roberto Clemente to ground out, walked Willie Stargell but then struck out my future teammate Donn Clendenon to get out of it. "Alou, Wills, Clemente, Stargell, Clendendon. That's some welcoming committee, hitters like those. But we had some good players, too, and we won the game. I didn't get the decision, but it was good to get my feet wet and the way this place used to drain, that wasn't a problem. "I've said it's time for the Mets to have a new stadium and I believe that. You go around the Majors as I did when I broadcast for the team and you see what they have in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati and San Diego and so forth and you wonder how is it possible that New York City, the greatest city in the world, doesn't have one? Now you don't have to wonder anymore. You'll see it for yourself. You're going to love it. "But that doesn't make this place any less special. This place, too, was my welcoming committee. All the fans who were here that chilly day in 1967 and all the fans who were here every time I pitched. I always said the Mets fans were the tenth man for us. When you're pitching, you look for every advantage. You fans represented a wonderful advantage for me and for everybody on the team. You could sense the difference when we went on the road and the fans weren't behind their team like our fans were for us. There were places where we had more fans � on the road, mind you � than the actual home team did. That's a real credit to the Mets fans and I always appreciated that. "You play this game, you come to work every day, to win and eventually, if you're lucky and work hard, to win a championship. I had that thrill in 1969. That happened here and for that I'll never forget what Shea Stadium felt like and looked like and sounded like. That was the culmination of a life's dream, not just for me, but for everybody on the team. That wouldn't have been possible without everybody's contributions, but especially our manager. Joan, if you're wondering why the fans still remember Gil, it's because he deserves to be remembered. "A lot of you probably remember 1969 and 1973. A lot more of you, I suspect, remember 1986. I was here for that, too, even if it was in the wrong dugout. I won't say that deep down I was happy the Mets won, but I couldn't be unhappy for you Mets fans. You deserved to be happy. "Once I was done playing, it meant a great deal to come back here and have my number retired and to stand on that mound and take a few bows. It meant a great deal to come back as a broadcaster and be around those very talented teams led by Mr. Piazza. The fans were happy again and it was great to see. "I've been around a bit less in the past few years, but it never leaves you. They'll tear this place down soon but it will still be here, right here, in the heart. You won't forget your first game here any more than any of us who played here will � the time your dad or your mom took you or the time you took your son or your daughter to their first game. I hope you saw a Mets win, but even if you didn't, you saw the Mets play. Sometimes it might have been hard to comprehend, but every player who has ever worn this uniform wanted to do his best for you. The fellas in the dugout tonight are trying just like we did, just like the guys in the other years did. We talked about it among each other and we heard it from the visiting players on the other teams what the Mets fans were like, how incredibly loud and supportive they were. "Demanding? You bet. But demanding because they understood baseball and loved the sport. As a professional athlete, you can't ask for anything more. "Right now, we're going to make our way over to the right field corner to take down number 3. We took a vote and I'm afraid it was left for me to do the peeling. We actually voted for Joan, but she said Gil would have wanted me to do it, so I can't turn that down. Besides, Buddy's too short to reach it. Only kidding roomie! "But I tell you what. I do this for all of us. I do this for the entire All-Amazin' Team � and may I say the voters made some excellent choices � and I do this for all of our teammates for all the years each of us played here and for all the Mets who've worn this uniform. And most of all, and I mean this as sincerely as I can, I do this for every one of you in the stands, for everyone who has ever come to Shea Stadium to root on the New York Mets, for everyone who has ever looked at that word, Mets, and saw in it, somehow, a piece of themselves. "This is for you." AG/DC Sep 26 2008 12:29 PM Jeez, the pitchers' arms may stiffen up, but they can't lose after that, can they? metirish Sep 26 2008 12:38 PM I am in awe of your gift to write this and do it so well , that was a fun read. Valadius Sep 26 2008 05:41 PM Keep this for posterity: Harrelson, Seaver, Strawberry and Piazza. metsguyinmichigan Sep 26 2008 05:58 PM Mikey looks great! Give him a uniform! SteveJRogers Sep 26 2008 06:08 PM Can Mikey pitch? = Benjamin Grimm Sep 26 2008 08:43 PM If Keith was in that photo instead of Buddy it would have been perfect. AG/DC Sep 26 2008 08:47 PM I guess there never will be a Casey-Grote-Mookie-Mikey shot. Tom the only one flashing the jewelry there. G-Fafif Sep 27 2008 08:43 AM Plenty of worthy candidates for 2 in Queens today, but I think most of them are at a card show in Jackson Heights. Press notes not out yet but I've gotta go get ready for more fun in Flushing. So here's another high concept post...Number 2 Like it Oughta Be in the Shea Stadium Final Season Countdown. ]As the Countdown Like It Oughta Be reaches its penultimate milepost, there is not a soul in Shea Stadium who isn't prepared for its unveiling in the middle of the fifth inning. Much to Aramark's dismay it is momentarily killing hot dog and beer sales, but tradition is tradition by now. All wait to find out who is next to unveil a magic number in this stirring seasonlong salute to the history of the old ballpark that is scheduled to commence to vanish after tomorrow. The buzz is palpable considering how closely the Countdown has been monitored. All of New York is wondering how this thing will play out. That's why when the public address system plays over and over again a familiar tune with a revised admonition � "EVERYBODY CLOSE YOUR EYES!" � nobody questions the directive; every pair of eyes shuts and every pair of ears perks up. What they hear, crackling over the PA, is a voice. It is ancient, yet, given a moment to be fully comprehended, it is instantly recognizable. Eyes stay closed and the voice begins to speak... I have been requested by management to give Shea Stadium a benediction, or at least the new parking lot that will provide amazing, amazing, amazing space to all the fine automobiles that the customers will drive to the Mets games even though there is an understandable effort by municipal authorities to encourage you to take mass transit as it is considered splendid at this time to be green, which is exactly what I was when I first came to New York in Nineteen Hundred and Twelve, which was technically Brooklyn though it was more technically Greater New York considering the great consolidation that took place while the National League had twelve teams including one in Louisville but none in Kansas City which is where I come from and everything was up to date and they went and built a skyscraper seven stories high which I thought was high which just goes to show you what kind of road apple I was when I came to Brooklyn and played in the new ballpark in Nineteen Hundred and Thirteen, my second year which wasn't no sophomore jinx for me as I averaged two-seventy-two and they called the neighborhood Pigtown and you wouldn'ta wanted to play there except that was where the money was in those days and the ballpark Mr. Ebbets built was quite fine and now I see they're replicating it in what used to be the parking lot for this here fine stadium that they're tearing down to make new parking and that's progress for ya. I am not here to argue about other sports, I am in the baseball business and in the baseball business if you don't have advancement you don't have progress and progress is what makes arbitration possible, which is something you didn't have in my day which I might add was many a day ago but I continue to be employed as a vice president by the New York Mets regardless of the fact that I am dead at the present time but I signed a perpetual personal services contract with Mrs. Payson who is also dead at the present time and extends her best regards. Mrs. Payson signed a long-term contract with the consolidated city of Greater New York for Shea Stadium which was quite a sight in its day which I suppose is not a day that has many days left and long-term don't mean what it used to when you open a bright and sprightly new stadium and it's got fifty-four bathrooms so nobody, even the ladies, has to wait and miss a minute of the action which you don't want to do, not at the prices of admission which can go as high as platinum what without Ladies Day as a recognized promotion and gold, which was the kind of watch I didn't even get when I was discharged by the New York Yankees for making the mistake of getting old and losing a World Series when Mr. Mazeroski took my pitcher Ralph Terry over the wall and Mr. Berra couldn't do nothing but just stand there and watch and it was a great moment for the baseball business if not for me and, wouldn't ya know it, Mr. Berra followed me to the amazin', amazin', amazin' Mets and Ralph Terry followed him if not for very long but I had commenced to no longer managing due to my hip breaking in a most unfortunate manner. When I slipped and got hurt in Boston when I managed there, the newspapermen wasn't at all unhappy but my newspapermen when I managed the Mets was always kinder to me. The New York Mets did me a great favor when they was still the Knickerbockers and needed a manager to help them become the amazing Mets and I was involved in banking in Glendale which isn't for everybody and now I see the Mets have gotten into the banking industry with their new park which will have a name like a bank and a platinum ticket structure though you never can tell until you install the turnstiles and determine what the market will bear. I was fortunate that nobody much expected anything out of my Mets and we delivered even less but they came out to the Polo Grounds which was where I played for Mr. McGraw and learned my managing trade, not that you'd think it did me any good based on our record in the Mets' first year, which wasn't as splendid as you'd like but nobody seemed to mind because they did come out in record numbers to see my amazing, amazing, amazing Mets up there at the old ballpark which was a lot newer when I was, too. Of course I wasn't born old, which you might think the contrary of when you get a look at me now and you could say the same for Shea Stadium with the acres of parking for all the Ramblers which I only mention because they had an official car of the Mets deal the park's first year and later Plymouth paid for that honor and they're still reaping dividends because that was the year we won our first title and the newsreels still show that now and again and it became a very famous title as it ensured that in South America on New Year's Day we'd have our best game. I also heartily endorse annuities as a wise investment. I ain't no Ned in the third reader, not after a hundred and eighteen years of living and dead combined, so I've seen a few things but I had never seen anything quite like Shea Stadium and not just the bathrooms which is where I wouldn't blame our fans for hiding in when the ballgames began to get away from us which was often and early and sometimes both, but it was a step up from the Polo Grounds which had been around almost as long as I was, maybe almost exactly the same amount if you count it in years before the fire and I mean the fire in Nineteen Hundred and Eleven, not when I got fired for losing a World Series and my old friend George Weiss hired me to manage those Knickerbockers who wasn't yet the Mets and George's wife said she married him for better or worse but not for lunch, which my Edna might have been thinking after George and I each made the mistake of getting old but that won't happen to this bee-yoo-ti-ful Shea Stadium because it's only forty-five years old and it won't see forty-six except of course in the way you're hearin' me now, which in itself is amazing, amazing, amazing. You see and hear a lot where I am. You see George and you see that lawyer fella Mr. Shea and you hear a real nice broadcast from my men Lindsey and Bob and you have that other Lindsay, the mayor who likes to pour the champagne over your head which is fine if you just won as we did in Nineteen Hundred and Sixty-Nine and you got a big power-hitter at first base like Mr. Clendenon which I didn't or a hammer like Mr. Milner when we won a pennant again in Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Three which I didn't neither. I had Mr. Throneberry who failed to touch most of the bases and we was always afraid of what he'd drop next and he comes up to me these days and says he doesn't know why they asked him to be here but I hand him a piece of cake and he don't ask me anything else. Up here you know what you're doing. You can play Kanehl anywhere and he don't even have to stick his elbow out for fifty dollars and you always get the right Miller, the righthanded one, up to face the righties though on our team it didn't really matter which Miller or which Nelson we called on because we just wasn't that good. But we got the attendance and I apologize to them all if they feel they got trimmed by our performance. They probably did. The escalators didn't always work at bee-yoo-ti-ful Shea Stadium but they made for grand staircases when they didn't and our scoreboard didn't always work the way they said it would, especially in the runs column, but it was big and everybody always knew how much we was losing by but ya didn't need a scoreboard 'cause ya had those placards and I'd just look at 'em and see what our fans thought of us which was a lot better than I thought of us. We got the old fans who came to the Polo Grounds and to Ebbets Field and we got the kids who didn't know any better. We got 'em from four years on, we got 'em from ten years on, fifteen years on, eighteen years on. And we got 'em in a group! When you're young, it's great to go into a stadium where your future lies in front of you. Seems Shea Stadium, which was lovely, just lovely, a lot lovelier than my team, just commenced to being and now it won't be anymore. But you can be sure as I was when Mr. McGraw put the bunt on that it will always be here, sort of the way I am. Of course I once missed that Mr. McGraw pulled the bunt sign in Cincinnati and I got fined for it which is how it should be if you miss a sign and swing away. If ya wanna be a sailor, join the Navy. From where we put our new ballpark in Nineteen Hundred and Sixty-Four you could see the water, too. You could get here by boat, you could get here on the train which is how I traveled most of my career. You could fly into that big, noisy airport that disturbed so many of our opposing hitters that it was a boon for my pitchers except they didn't seem to care for it either and even if they had, my pitchers wasn't quite what you'd call pitchers all the time, at least not in the big league sense. And you could drive, even if it wasn't a Rambler, the official car of the Mets. You could park anywhere. We had lots of parking. It appears apparent that we still will. I don't mean to be no Alibi Ike and I'd like to be with you fine ladies and gentlemen to pull down my number, but that's gonna represent a stretch as I am, as previously mentioned, dead at the present time, having commenced to being exactly deceased in Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Five which is no excuse for not being a New York Met, 'cause that's what I am for life and thereafter, just like you, I suspect, just like bee-yoo-ti-ful new Shea Stadium will always be, when you keep your eyes closed, bee-yoo-ti-ful new Shea Stadium. The transmission crackles to an end. When all realize the voice has been silenced � or perhaps just paused until another appropriate interval when it will speak and speak and speak again � all open their eyes and turn their heads toward the right field corner where they discover the voice's physical envoy, Mr. Met, will do the honors on behalf of the spirit of the voice and peel off number 2. That Mr. Met is resolutely mute strikes some in the crowd as ironic but nobody says anything about it. bmfc1 Sep 27 2008 09:30 AM Jerry Koosman today. AG/DC Sep 27 2008 10:52 AM This is why we archive. SteveJRogers Sep 27 2008 06:53 PM If it is not George Thomas Seaver tomorrow before the game, and then a nice Seaver to Piazza first pitch... Well there isn't anything I can do about it I suppose! Gwreck Sep 27 2008 07:30 PM Presumably, there will be two numbers to reveal tomorrow. One before the game starts, and one after the game ends. G-Fafif Sep 28 2008 01:00 AM The Shea Stadium Final Season Countdown Like It Oughta Be, Number 1... ]The following New York State executive order was issued and communicated on a series of banners carried aloft and paraded by officially certified fans of the Metropolitan Baseball Club of New York, Inc. on the field at William A. Shea Municipal Stadium following the last out of the final regular-season baseball game to be played there. WHEREAS, William A. Shea Municipal Stadium was established on the Seventeenth Day of April in the Year of our Lord Nineteen Hundred and Sixty Four; and WHEREAS, Shea Stadium has hosted thousands of events of all sorts; and WHEREAS, Shea Stadium has been home for forty-five seasons to the Metropolitan Baseball Club of New York, Inc.; and WHEREAS, Shea Stadium has yielded countless memories to millions of New Yorkers and those who have visited New York; and WHEREAS, Shea Stadium has played an integral role in the lives of countless persons since 1964; and WHEREAS, neither Shea Stadium nor the events that have taken place inside and around its physical plant can be considered anything less than a rich cultural contribution to the State and City of New York and the Borough of Queens; and WHEREAS, the circumstances inherent in those events, those people and Shea Stadium itself have been so carefully chronicled since the Eighth Day of April in the Year of our Lord Two Thousand and Eight in what has been known as the Shea Stadium Final Season Countdown Like It Oughta Be; and WHEREAS, the Shea Stadium Final Season Countdown Like It Oughta Be has demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt the historical significance of Shea Stadium; and WHEREAS, no facility that has encompassed so much history should be permitted to undergo total and complete demolition; and WHEREAS, the New York Mets organization relies on certain tax abatements and incidents of government assistance to optimize commercial enterprise profit; and WHEREAS, the State of New York recognizes a responsibility on behalf of private-sector concerns to function in the public interest; and WHEREAS, this public servant did, in fact, grow up a fan of the New York Mets baseball team and a devoted patron of Shea Stadium; NOW, THEREFORE, I, DAVID A. PATERSON, Governor of the State of New York, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the State of New York, do hereby order as follows: 1. Upon conclusion of the 2008 New York Mets season or postseason, dependent on the Mets' record in championship season play, the ownership of the New York Mets is required to leave one piece of Shea Stadium standing. 2. The portion of the right field wall on which has been emblazoned the numbers that have signified how many games have remained in the life of Shea Stadium since there were eighty-one on April 8 shall remain standing into perpetuity. 3. That portion of the wall shall be maintained as it appears today, the Twenty Eighth day of September in the Year of our Lord Two Thousand and Eight, painted blue and continuing to display the numeral 1 as it does now. 4. The wall and the number shall stand as part of the foreground of all successor facilities to Shea Stadium on this site in Flushing Meadows Corona Park or whatever structures are erected here in the future should the New York Mets baseball team shift its operations to another locale inside or outside New York City. 5. No plaque or marker shall accompany this section of the wall. It shall be incumbent upon those who witnessed the events that filled Shea Stadium between 1964 and 2008 to communicate to future generations the significance of the wall when asked. All who entered Shea Stadium between 1964 and 2008 shall carry forth a moral obligation to tell the story of Shea Stadium to all who never had the opportunity to experience it. 6. Any person who is not sure what to say to their children or their children's children or anybody's children as to what made Shea Stadium special is encouraged to refer to the transcript of the Shea Stadium Final Season Countdown Like It Oughta Be, available at the blog Faith and Fear in Flushing. But it is the considered opinion of this office that all you will need to do is look into your heart and reach back into your memory and tell those future generations and those individuals who never attended Shea Stadium themselves what you saw, what you heard, what you felt. 7. If you saw the New York Mets at Shea Stadium, let those who never did know what it was like to be here when the stadium shook because a Met hit a home run. 8. If you saw the New York Mets at Shea Stadium, let those who never did know what it was like to be here when the stadium gasped because a Met came close to pitching a no-hitter. 9. If you saw the New York Mets at Shea Stadium, let those who never did know what it was like to be here when the stadium erupted in joy as a championship was secured or a victory was sealed or a nice play was made. 10. If you saw the New York Mets at Shea Stadium, let those who never did know what it was like to anticipate the trip here, to wander through the gate, to walk up a stalled escalator, to emerge into a dark and damp concourse and then be assaulted with more light and color than television could ever relay. 11. If you saw the New York Mets at Shea Stadium, let those who never did know the delight of being a New York Mets fan at Shea Stadium, the frustration of being a New York Mets fan at Shea Stadium, the absolute totality of being a New York Mets fan at Shea Stadium. 12. Whatever you experienced at Shea Stadium, for whatever reason you were at Shea Stadium, pass the word along. 13. If you attended Shea Stadium, idealized Shea Stadium, adored Shea Stadium, loathed Shea Stadium...don't forget Shea Stadium. The portion of the right field wall that shall remain standing with the numeral 1 is intended to serve as no more than a well-meaning cue to bring out your stories of Shea Stadium and allow you to share them for the rest of your lives so they, in turn, can be shared into perpetuity, which is how long this section of the wall shall stand. 14. No commercial enterprise shall be permitted to sponsor this section of the wall where the Shea Stadium Final Season Countdown Like It Oughta Be was commemorated. The idea that something as substantive as a seasonlong retrospective of a cherished institution's history � a history that belongs to all � could be diluted for commercial gain is reprehensible even in theory. 15. The removal of this portion of the wall and/or the numeral 1 shall result in the forfeit of all favorable financial considerations granted by any and all agencies of the State and City governments, the kind on which all professional sports organizations depend to function optimally. All highway and public transit infrastructure relevant to successor facilities to Shea Stadium on this site shall commence to be completely and totally unfunded if this portion of the wall and/or the numeral 1 are not lovingly and carefully preserved. 16. The number 1 is never to be removed from the portion of this wall that shall remain standing. As long as 1 remains posted on this site, Shea Stadium shall never truly be gone. It shall always be, as in the hearts and minds of millions of Mets fans since 1964, the 1. 17. That is how the Shea Stadium Final Season Countdown Like It Oughta Be oughta end. Given under my hand and the Privy Seal of the State in William A. Shea Municipal Stadium in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in the Borough of Queens in the City of New York this Twenty Eighth Day of September in the Year of our Lord Two Thousand and Eight. David A. Paterson Governor and Mets Fan AG/DC Sep 28 2008 06:21 AM Wrap it up and send it to the publisher, Greg. Frayed Knot Sep 28 2008 06:53 AM Asked about the economy a couple days ago Governor Patterson said he was more worried about the Mets bullpen. Oh, and a win today guarantees at least 1 more game at Shea and possibly as many as 9 Benjamin Grimm Sep 28 2008 06:55 AM Let's go for nine! G-Fafif Sep 28 2008 08:01 AM Real Life Number 1... Tom Seaver. Of course. Gwreck Oct 06 2008 01:44 PM Mets Walkoffs[/url:1ao0rtdq] has a list of everyone for the year. The breakdown: Former Players/Manager/Coaches: 25 Corporate Sponsors: 15 Representatives of Charities/Awareness Days: 12 Mets Employees: 9 Media: 6 Fans: 5 Includes several "lucky fans" -- (ie. we couldn't get anyone better.) Mets Cross-Promotion: 4 (ie. SNY Personalities) Mr. Met: 4 (Seriously, Mr. Met did four numbers? We love him too, but this is just more of "we couldn't get anyone better." They could've at least done more "lucky fans!" New York Jets: 1 Shea Family: 1 HahnSolo Oct 06 2008 02:59 PM What I find most amusing about that is that if you follow the link, the writer says the list came from the Mets PR dept. Funny that they had no idea who took down #10. If they followed our countdown, they'd see that 10 was MIlitary Appreciation rep, and 9 was HoJo. Maybe they were too embarassed to let it be known that HoJo revealed both 9 and 6. G-Fafif Oct 06 2008 03:26 PM An asterisk for 10 and 9: that was rescheduled into a doubleheader on Military Appreciation Day and I think they went with military reps both games and HoJo was bumped. I say I think because I got to the opener late but when they brought out a military rep for the nightcap, somebody said "again?" Already the stuff of urban legend. A Boy Named Seo Dec 29 2008 05:45 PM On the UMDB Facebook page, a guy uploaded a picture of himself next to the number 3. I'm fairly certain that ain't Bud Harrelson. Just a lucky guy who got to go on the field?

="HahnSolo"]Mike Francesa just mentioned something about the Yankees having another Stadium closing event in November. Don't know what is involved. I wish I was kidding. Some sort of rock concert with I think Springsteen. And apparantly they are inviting every single living Yankee as well.

Post game. All stadium closings were postgames. This was pre only because it was a Sunday Night game.

Chronological by position. They saved CF for last.

seawolf17 wrote: I don't know where this goes, so I'll stick it here. All barfing aside, that was a really nice ceremony they had tonight. I only picked it up halfway through, but the best moments were Yogi, Bobby Murcer's family (I teared up watching his daughter tear up), and the return of Bernie Williams, who even acknowledged the Creatures. They did a very creepy thing at first. They had Stadium personnel come out as "ghosts" of the original lineup in 1923, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Gomez, McCarthy and Stengel. It made me worried when they started an intro to Phil Rizzuto, but thankfully it was Phil's widow being trotted out.

KC wrote: Dad sold the tickets for big bucks, huh? Can't blame him. FYI, this sums up my Dad's attitude about following baseball, just a few moments ago: "So, when is the Yankee's final game? Next weekend?" and "What time is the Met game? Tonight?" Then again, that is what happens when you stop following baseball religiously around 1968ish.

So, by no recording devices at the tailgate you mean secretly record the entire tailgate and post a transcript at every single Met forum I can think of?

8-1 Brew Crew Final.

No. No interest actually, and too much of a freaking mob scene and tourist trap feel with the Sunday night extravaganza. Give me a Sunday afternoon without the entire world watching any day.

The Rays have eliminated them from the divisional race. One more loss or Red Sox win will put the MFY officially out of their misery.

="SteveJRogers":2jozdo8p]Shocked to hear Rice get overlooked yesterday morning when a radio show host rattled off Red Sox Left Fielders and only mentioned the no doubt HOFers in Teddy Ballgame, Yaz and ManRam. Rice, while won't go down historically with those three, should be listed among those three. Then again, the host is a bit of a moron.[/quote:2jozdo8p] Missed one Wolfie seawolf17 Sep 21 2008 01:27 PM Sorry. Tried to split it back out and merge it, but deleted it by mistake. Thanks for reposting it here anyway. TheOldMole Sep 21 2008 01:50 PM Hodges yes. Frayed Knot Sep 21 2008 01:53 PM Santo seawolf17 Sep 21 2008 01:59 PM I say Hodges/Santo/Torre. Soft spots for my birthday buddy Dick Allen and the ageless Jim Kaat, but I don't think the rest make the cut. metsguyinmichigan Sep 21 2008 02:59 PM I would vote for Santo, Hodges and Allen. Met Hunter Sep 21 2008 03:41 PM I predict that not one member of this year's bullpen gets in. Not even with paid admission. Valadius Sep 21 2008 04:48 PM I'm with MGIM. Vic Sage Sep 22 2008 09:41 AM It would neither shock my conscience nor surprise me if no one got in. That being said: Ron Santo - Santo wasn't an accumulator, didn't lead the league in anything important, and didn't win any championships; he does meet the "5-year/10-year" test (at least 5 years great, and at least 10 years very good), but just barely. But from 63-67, he won GGs and was as good a hitter as their was in the league. I'd say he's borderline for a reason, but it wouldn't bother me to see him go in. YES. Dick Allen - a better case than Santo; a ROY and MVP, top 10 in OPS+ for 10 years (1st = 3x), and top 10 in RC for 8 of those years (1st = 3x). But as a bad glove at 1b, and bad rep with press, he's been kept out. Again, borderline, but I'd say YES. Gil Hodges - As a manager, his career was too brief to achieve HOF credentials. As a player, he was Norm Cash, playing in a bandbox. NO. Jim Kaat - the ultimate accumulator. NO. Tony Oliva - at the other end of the spectrum, Oliva was great for 5-6 years, but couldn't sustain it. NO. Al Oliver - a very good player, but not great; but how many guys have their career years at age 35? but NO. Vada Pinson - like Santo, just barely makes the 5-y/10-y threshold, but hung around for another decade. I don't think so. NO. Luis Tiant - had a few great years, but mostly just good. NO. Joe Torre - great year in 71, and a few other excellent seasons, but not enough. As a manager, he sucked until he managed to stay out of the way of some great teams. I can't possibly go along with his enshrinement. NO. Maury Wills - 1 great year, a few other good ones. Um, NO. Benjamin Grimm Sep 22 2008 09:45 AM Vic didn't mention Dale Murphy, but I'd call him a NO. Vic Sage Sep 22 2008 09:53 AM Murphy wasn't on the list in this thread, But, if you want to include him: DALE MURPHY - he was a guy with a very high peak, whose career completely fell off the table at a relatively young age. I presume it was injuries. But he won 2 MVPs and, in 6 of 8 seasons from 1980-1987, he was a GG-calibre CFer and as good a hitter as their was in the NL. But after that, at age 32, it was like his switch got turned off. So, unfortunately, I'd have to say NO. Frayed Knot Dec 08 2008 12:37 PM Joe Gordon and no one else. If I had to choose one off of the vet's ballot I don't think I would have gone with him. Valadius Dec 08 2008 12:41 PM Oy gevalt. Another undeserving Yankee. John Cougar Lunchbucket Dec 08 2008 12:53 PM Gordon's MVP in 42 should have gone to Ted Williams. But he had a pretty strong career overall. Vic Sage Dec 08 2008 01:16 PM he lost 2 of his prime years to WWII, preventing him from accumulating more impressive numbers. But what was there was "cherce." sharpie Dec 08 2008 01:44 PM Baseball reference has him being traded by the Indians to the Tigers in 1960 for Jimmie Dykes. Gordon retired in 1950, Dykes in 1939. Overall, a better trade for the Indians as Dykes was over 60 at the time. http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gordojo01.shtml Valadius Dec 08 2008 01:50 PM They traded managers. sharpie Dec 08 2008 01:56 PM Yes of course. Actually turned out slightly better for the Tigers than the Indians. Edgy DC Dec 08 2008 05:15 PM The larger veterans committee made up of living members tasked to review careers that started after World War II turned in no names for the fourth straight time. "It's not our job to vote someone in," Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams said by phone from Las Vegas, where the results were announced at baseball's Winter Meetings. "It's our job to consider the candidates." That's pretty cool considering how long Williams was on the outside.

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Frayed Knot wrote: you can always switch over to ESPN which is in the midst of what I think is a 75 hour pre-game show leading into tonight's game featuring the history of Yanqui Stadium (both I and II) What do they think this game is? The freaking Super Bowl?