stevejrogers

BTW in comparaison have you seen ANY footage of Gil Hodges Day at Shea when they retired Gil's number on 6/9/1972? The only clip I've heard is "Taps" played in honor of Gil on the Mets 40th Anniversary CD Probably the most emotionally sad day in Shea's history, though I'd suspect alot in that building were old Dodger fans rather than 1969 Met fans. NTTWATWWT of course

KC wrote: I don't know if they still do it at Yankee Stadium, but they used to honor him once a game between an inning and get everyone all pumped up and what not with a video tribute still 20-30 years later? It feeds to an age group's emotions and is subliminal advertising if you ask me. I might be a (fill in your own adjective here), but I think there's a fine line between honoring a player and exploiting the fact that he was popular and died a tragic death. This will never show up in any executive memos, but come on. I'm pretty sure that ended though after the ten year anniversary or right around that time. I know what you mean, they replayed Bob Sheppard's reading of Munson's plaque inscription, show the empty space behind the plate, ect. I haven't seen it in a LONG time so they did stop doing it after a point Kind of goes along with the God Bless America every game For a couple of years after their respective passings (thankfully it was STOPPED after only a couple of years) they actually did Mickey Mantle's and Joe DiMaggio's full introduction at Old Timers Day as well! Like if they did it right the spirts of Joe D and Mick would suddenly appear or something! You know, I'm starting to think maybe the Mets are on the right track with how they treat their past... =

KC wrote: We just spent half a day telling you they do love Jackson, you almost agree that maybe you're misguided, and then you go on to say they don't in the same post and throw him in with Arod ... who the fickle fans will love too if he has a good October. Your train of thought has derailed me. ??? I meant more in the vein of the "Straw that stirs" first season comparision between him and Munson and ARod and Jeter

If Trevor Hoffman could convert ONE STINKING ALL STAR GAME SAVE...

Perez gets out of early 1st trouble

Well the A-Team Infield Marlins Ramirez SS Uggla 2B Willingham LF Helms 3B Ross RF Jacobs 1B Treanor C Amezaga CF Willis P Mets Reyes SS Lo Duca C Delgado 1B Wright 3B Valetin 2B Milledge LF Green RF Chavez CF Perez P

Hmmm. Then maybe this is yet ANOTHER case of me paying more attention to the few (not just members of the media) that still to this day have no use for Reggie Either that or I'm putting too much emphasis on people using "He's more an A than a Yankee" arguments (For HOF plaque cap logo, number retirement, ect) the way "I always thought of him more an Expo than a Met" argument is used in terms of Gary Carter's Metlyness Interesting thing about Yankee fans love of Munson and Jeter as opposed to Jackson and Rodriguez. Clearly Munson and Jackson were polar opposites in virtually every way possible when it came to their off-field demeanors and such. Jeter and ARod are cut from the same Jordan-esque modern Sports Superstar cloth. Except Jeter doesn't act with the "I want you to LOVE ME, WHY DONT YOU LOVE ME?" way ARod comes off as.

Yup. Hence also the rather un-baseball like caps that MLB (and every other league) have been pushing for championship celebrations. These caps are created soley for the non-baseball fan (both male and female) that hate the regular baseball cap (built a little too tough not snug fitting, and too warm to wear on a regular basis, ect) to pick up more merchandise so they can look "chic" and "hip" by wearing a cap symbolizing a MLB team (or any team) that achieved a championship (or a postseason birth)

HahnSolo wrote: No black unis at home, please. If I have to see black, let it be on the road. Did I read somewhere, maybe this forum, that it's Charlie Samuels' call on what uniforms to wear for each game? Yes, some teams its the Starting Pitcher, but for the Mets its Charlie's call

In the words of Frayed Knot, though he does come a little from out in LF = Well you wonder why Mets always dress in black, why you never see bright colors on their backs. And why does their appearance seem to have a somber tone? Well there's a reason for the unis they have on. They wear black for the poor and the beaten down, for those not living on the south Bronx side of town. They wear 'em for the teams that have long paid for their crimes but are down as though they're victims of the times. Well they wear black for the fans who've never read, or listened to to words that Bill James said. Of learning about baseball through statistical theory, why it's as if he's talking straight to you and me. While some are doin' mighty fine I do suppose, with all their rings and their fancy pin-striped clothes. But just to be reminded of the ones who are held black, in New York there oughta be a team in black. Yes they wear black for bitter and the old, and for the ones whose road trips leave them cold. They wear 'em for the young players whose careers have never been, each year we draft a hundred fine young men. And they wear black for the thousands who have cried thinking that the fates would be their guide. And they wear 'em for the dreams of those pennants that have died, when it seems as if the umps weren't on their side. Well there's things that never will be right I know, and things need changing everywhere Bud Selig goes. But until the basic agreement starts to make a few things right, you'll never see Mets wearing only white Oh we'd love to wear blue and orange everyday, and tell the world that everything's O-K. But for now the daily standings form a burden on our backs, and until things are brighter we'll be the team in black

From last years Song Parody contest, a little Conway Twitty as I tried to warm up for the contest I can almost hear the stillness as it yields to the sounds of the Mets hearts beating bum bum bum And I can almost hear the echo of the thoughts that I know they must be thinking bum bum bum And I can feel Shea Stadium tremble as 55,000 fans wonder what this moment holds in store bum bum bum And as Wright, Reyes as the others take the field you can tell they've never been this far before bum bum bum I don't know what I'm saying as the Mets touch all the bases bum bum bum I only know I've waited for five long years for the chance that we are taking bum bum bum Well I don't know and I don't care why the Braves can't win the East anymore bum bum bum And as I taste the beer and hot dogs I know these Mets have never been this far before bum bum bum And as the Mets take a World Series ride I can feel the extacsy building in at Shea bum bum bum And we're wondering if tomorrow The Mets will be a dynasty bum bum bum It has no way of knowing but tonight will only make Shea love them more bum bum bum And I hope that this is just the beginning cause I know These Mets have never been this far before bum bum bum bum bum bum

Keeping the rotation as is, he is scheduled to pitch two more times (both against the Nationals) but chances are thats going to change as Willie tries to figure out just what the rotation will look like come October. 290 is probably where I'd project the end of the year total for Tom Glavine

Moving right along Bobby Mathews 297 Can not find another photo of the guy Tom Glavine 289 11 More To Go! This will be done next season of course, but will it be done as a Met? Hmmmmm

Both teams' GMs are famous for making small deals, stock-piling very good spare parts like relievers, middle infielders and the like

HA! True, true. Hey these aren't all EXACT 100% matches Both teams featured first year Cable Color guys who played on their last Divisional Championship teams Another stretch but Both teams had Howie Rose employed by the flagship radio station (Rose was Sports Director and Morning Show (Jim Kerr I THINK) anchor on WHN in 1986)

metirish wrote: Who's the fireballing ace righty on the current staff? Pedro

Both teams spent the summer being "chased" by the Phillies as the defending East champs sputtered out of the gate and never were a real factor in the division race all year Both teams accquired their starting 1Bman and catcher who both provided good offensive and deffense as well as clubhouse leadership Both teams set Met records for most players sent to an All Star Game Both teams feature a crafty veteran lefty to augment the fireballing ace righty (Glavine/Ojeda)

ScarletKnight41 wrote: With a magic number of 1, both teams were swept in series in Pennsylvania but then clinched on the first game of the ensuing homestand. Magic number was 2 heading into Philly, Mets won a game in St Louis (two game series) that knocked it down to 1.

Yancy Street Gang wrote: I was glad that MLB Extra Innings didn't cut off the feed right after the game ended. They seem to keep the lights on until the first commercial break after the game ends. I think if Gary had said, "We'll be right back" a few minutes after the game ended, that would have been it. But SNY didn't break for a commerical until about a half hour after the game ended, so I got to watch all the fun. I have it on TiVo, and I plan to burn it to a DVD. It will be fun to watch ten or more years from now. Hopefully I'll be looking back at the beginning of a great run, and marveling at how young Reyes and Wright looked. Ditto here. Starting to realize how bad 20 year old VHSs can be

Willets Point wrote: I started a more appropriate countdown in the Standings thread. Postseason wins are the priority. It'd be nice if we had home field for the NLCS, but I'm not going to go crazy if the Cards surge ahead, just as long as we have home field in the NLDS. Best record in the bigs is as meaningfull as best record in the NFL unless there is a historic possiblity for a final record

Edgy DC wrote: I disagree that being out of the race is worse than being in a close second. I'll take loving and losing over never loving at all. I was going for why for some the celebration is subdubed, that being close in 84 and 85 gave fans an extra jolt of excitement in 86

cooby wrote: You're not alone, MFS62. For me, the fact that I couldn't watch it, plus I still miss a good pennant race, meant that last night was just another night for me. That plus I had the wind taken out of my sails a few times this summer, which kinda just lets me down in general. The playoffs, now that will be another story! I think the difference is that 1986 was the culmulation of 13 long years, especially after bitter dissapointments in 1984 and 1985. Not to mention it saw the dissmantling of what could have been a fine ballclub Sure its been 18 years since they won the Division, but they were in the World Series just 5 years ago, and unlike the down years inbetween 73-86 and 88-99 you didn't get a sense that the Mets were not trying. All Freddie Coupon jokes aside, the Mets never gave you the impression that they were giving up and rebuilding from scratch since losing the World Series in 2000. Alomar, Vaughn, Glavine, Floyd, Cameron, Matsui, Benson and even Zambrano would not have been brought in if this was the dark times of 79 or 94. There were years where our big pickup was along the lines of a Mike Maddux and an over the hill Kevin McReynolds! Also I think the depths of the heartbreak in 1985 led to alot of over the topness of the celebration 20 years ago. That did not happen in 2005, this year we and the Braves are truely flipped-flopped. The Braves are in September, on the fringe of a Wild Card race but with a bunch of teams to climb over and struggling just to get to a .500 record, just like the Mets a year ago. Sure it was bad, but not as bad as losing a heartbreak of a race in the closing week of the season. So I think its more of a matter of the state that the franchise is in more than anything.

Still working for the Dolan Empire as a show host

Oh geez, I completely forgot this: Yahoo! This is your celebration Yahoo! This is your celebration Celebrate good times, come on! (Let's celebrate) Celebrate good times, come on! (Let's celebrate) There's a party goin' on right here A celebration to last throughout the years So bring your good times, and your laughter too We gonna celebrate your party with you Come on now Celebration Let's all celebrate and have a good time Celebration We gonna celebrate and have a good time It's time to come together It's up to you, what's your pleasure Everyone around the world Come on! Yahoo! It's a celebration Yahoo! Celebrate good times, come on! It's a celebration Celebrate good times, come on! Let's celebrate We're gonna have a good time tonight Let's celebrate, it's all right We're gonna have a good time tonight Let's celebrate, it's all right Baby... We're gonna have a good time tonight (Ce-le-bra-tion) Let's celebrate, it's all right We're gonna have a good time tonight (Ce-le-bra-tion) Let's celebrate, it's all right Yahoo! Yahoo! Celebrate good times, come on! (Let's celebrate) Celebrate good times, come on! It's a celebration! Celebrate good times, come on! (Let's celebrate) Come on and celebrate, good times, tonight (Celebrate good times, come on!) 'Cause everything's gonna be all right Let's celebrate (Celebrate good times, come on) (Let's celebrate)...

For what its worth, Cubs 11-Phillies 6 final