stevejrogers

Date 4/16 Opponent Nationals Number Removed 75 Remover Long time Met broadcaster and fan, Howie Rose. Surprised they didn't have him flip 67 to 66 as it would coincide with 660 WFAN (which celebrate's it's 20th anniversary on 660 this coming October) Ehhh, whatever.

Expos may be gone, but their retired numbers (specifically Staub10 and Carter8 live on in the Bell Centre in Montreal) Also an inneresting photo of The Kid in a Habs jersey along with The Hawk and Youppi

TheOldMole wrote: Wouldn't it be great to go back to the old days when they never used corporate names, but instead called the ballparks things like Wrigley Field and Busch Stadium? Nicely done, but one could come back with yabut those were the actual owners of the teams at the time. Though I have no clue how much A-B spent to keep their name on the new Cardinals ballpark.

Speaking of Ron Hodges, hey JCL, can you tell me the story of how this guy ended up in your avatar?

="HahnSolo"]Still unresolved: will we actually get a Met, or ex Met, to unveil the number on this homestand? Your answer, TONIGHT! Odd that it isn't Rachel, but Date 4/15 Opponent Nationals Number Removed 76 Remover The Glider, 3Bman for your 1969 World Champions, Ed Charles!

Benjamin Grimm wrote: ="SteveJRogers"]Try getting there early so you can get a space underneath the Whitestone Expressway under Northern Blvd. Do they still allow that? (I had heard that they didn't.) I used to do that all the time when I was a Sunday season ticket holder and lived on Long Island. I'd make a left turn out of my parking spot, a right on Main Street and that would lead me right to the LIE. Last year they did, this year my Dad's company got the full year plus parking so I don't know if they started to crack down on that this year. Or at least the side furtherest away from Shea.

Try getting there early so you can get a space underneath the Whitestone Expressway under Northern Blvd. Otherwise best bet is somewhere in downtown Flushing near Willets Point.

avi again!

avi

Date 4/13 Opponent Brewers Number Removed 77 Remover Hosts of SNY's Kids Clubhouse, Gabe Cohen & Caitlin Fichtel

Date 4/12 Opponent Brewers Number Removed 78 Remover Some Corporate Suit from Citi Corp. To quote Billy Walsh, SUITS SUCK!

="Nymr83"]I was out all day maybe someone can explain this to me, why does a pitcher go 5 scoreless innings, throw only 68 pitches, allow only 3 baserunners, and get yanked from the game? the pitcher is greg maddux for SD against LA today. Because Greg Maddux is in fact a

TransMonk wrote: ="SteveJRogers"]What is worse than the "Everybody Clap You Hands" bit at Shea? When fans clap like sheep to it. Yeah, God forbid baseball clubs actually encourage fan participation in a baseball game in order to make the experience of attending the ballpark more enjoyable. Do you sit on your hands during a rally when you're at a game? It's one thing for some classic organ music to be played, or some sort of cheesy rally clip to be played on the screen (Hackman's Hoosier's "I don't care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game..." speech that ends with everyone clapping, Peter Finch's "Get out of your seats, open the window and yell..." leading to Lets Go Mets, etc) or goofy trivia segments in-between innings. But it's another thing to hear some obnoxious voice come over the PA and say "EV-REY-BOD-Y-CLAP-YO-HANDS!" followed by some canned clapping noise designed to tell the fans "You must CLAP NOW! CHEER ON YOUR TEAM!" Not to sound too much like certain curmudgeons but there is a stark difference between something being an organic cheer (and yes I'll give that much props to the annoying WOOOO that fans have added to "LETS-GO-METS" in recent years for being an organic thing) and something that is created by the Shea PA staff designed to direct the audience into doing something. And of course yes it's not just at Shea, but it is just about EVERY sporting event possible, and I do realize that the genie isn't going to get put back in the bottle on this one. I'm also extra grouchy today because of what I witnessed on that field today and the usual coldness inside the wind tunnel known as the Loge Reserves.

What is worse than the "Everybody Clap You Hands" bit at Shea? When fans clap like sheep to it.

On both the big scoreboard and DiamondVision they put up WRIGHT 100 Did not whip my camera out in time

KC wrote: Before the Mets can open an "official" bar in the spirit of Mickey Mantle's Restaurant, don't they need a player of his caliber who happens to be a fallen down drunk who probably didn't remember 3/4's of his life because he was always sauced? I haven't been there in ten years, I don't really hang around in that sec- tion of Manhattan much ... but what I remember of it I couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. The bartenders had sticks up their asses, the waitresses sucked, the menu was over-priced, etc. Central Park South, I'd love to see the lease and how their pulling off paying that rent or if they got some sweet fifty-year deal to be a tourist attraction and subsidize the glorification of Yankeeness. Yuck, Stevie Jeets strikes again. LOL! I threw out the name of other spots with names linked to them (also Mike Shannon's place in St Louie, I believe Ozzie Smith has one as well, and there are a slew of others as well I'm sure) and you had to go with the Mantle blast! Yeah I'm sure they do have an official "deal" with the Yankees and/or MLB that has kept them afloat in mid-town Manhattan while other tourist traps have come and gone over the years (All Star Cafe, Planet Hollywood, WWF NY, etc), no reason why a bar couldn't do that with a Met player and the Mets. Plus they do sell some of the interesting memorabilia on their wall so I guess that brings in income as well. And the knocks you mentioned pretty much describes just about every NYC tourist trap themed restaurant as well, including the ESPN Zone. I agree, in terms of better dining, and drinking, experience nothing beats hole in the walls, even if they are as famous as Virgil's or Brother Jimmy's.

Recent meetups in the city made me feel a little nostalgic for Rusty Staub's old restaurants, though I never once stepped foot in them (I believe both were long gone by the time I turned 21 in Feb of 1998). Just did some googling, and there is a restaurant in where the original Rusty's was on Third, but I'm not sure what occupies 525 5th these days, the former home of Rusty's on 5th. I wonder whatever became of the Outfielder's Lounge on Astoria Blvd.? Anyone know if Bobby V's name is still on the bar in the Ramada on 114th Street? Be kind of neat for the Mets to have their "Mickey Mantles" or "Harry Carays" or "Lee Roy Selmon's" (Tampa Bay Bucs legend) where fans can meet up, or like the pre/post game of Mets Extra did during the 1986 postseason and radio stations (or TV stations like SNY) could do shows from there. Yeah I know it would have all the trappings of a modern tourist trap; crowds of visitors who wouldn't know Yogi Berra from Yogi Bear, food that is so damn expensive that makes you pine for stadium prices, overpriced merchandise, etc. But it would be fun, especially since you'd know the Met game HAS to be on, and not some random replay of an NFL regular season game from the previous year! And if the guy (or guys) whose name is on the establishment is still living, you would stand a chance of that player (or players) popping in from time to time, with friends. Always a good thing! And it doesn't seem as random as just bar hopping and hope that the establishment is friendly to A) sports fans in general (and I've seen quite a number of bars where a movie or a TV show was on the televisions) and the team you root for, granted in New York it's a 50/50 bet, but still you say "Yo put on the Met game" I wouldn't be surprised if a good percentage of barkeeps were Yankee fans and would tell you to get lost! I don't know why someone from the Mets hasn't attached their names to a place in Manhattan in a long time, I think it might just work, even if the Mets were cellar dwellers. I mean it's still baseball, it's still a restaurant/bar. Plus everyone would know where to go. Ah well I guess, doesn't seem to be any Jet or Giant, Knick, Ranger, Islander, Devil, Net with their name on a NYC area establishment, or current, and living, Yankee as well so maybe it really wouldn't work in NYC. Heh, maybe I'm just waxing this way simply because I never got to pay proper patronage to either one of Rusty's places before they went to that great big restaurant in the sky.

Put that in the books!

Time to sleep with one eye open...

Feliciano warming in the pen.

Heilman is coming in for the eighth.

Joe Smith in for the Mets in the 7th

Its Doggie Night at Shea, and the Afflac trivia question brings up the Baja Men and Who Let The Dogs Out and how they sang before Game 3 of the 2000 World Series. NOT COOL! Two things I never want to be reminded of, THAT SONG and THAT WORLD SERIES!

Reyes is out, either leg discomfort or Willie is pulling another Hodges play on Reyes. Anderson at 2nd, Easley is at SS Tightness in the left Hammy now coming over on the radio.