stevejrogers

Bruce Sutter. I remember this because Warner Wolf on ESPN NY radio gave as reasoning for Joba Chamberlain being inserted into the rotation right away when he eventually debuted was that to that point no one had gone into Cooperstown that wasn’t a starting pitcher “first” Obviously way to declarative to be true as how would he know how all of the dozens of HOF pitchers were used in their MLB debuts and first few appearances. But silly to use as a determining factor, even if it’s more of a “rarity” than “none at all,” to how a highly touted prospect should be used when they hit the majors. Anyway, that was before Bruce Sutter made that argument “moot” and all!

Speaking of the MFYs, the author spotlighted a whole dern bunch of them in the September chapter. Which ends with the debut of The Beverly Hillbillies, and a talk with the daughter of the owner of the home used as the exterior shots for the show… Still nothing on how the Dodgers and Giants were able to blow past the most recent two NL champs all year!

https://www.amazon.com/1962-Baseball-America-Time-JFK/dp/080329087X The Mets have their own chapter (June), but it’s more of an overall life thumbnail of various persons and players associated as opposed to what specifically occurred during the year. That’s kind of is why this a bit of a slog. Especially on stuff not tied to the world of baseball, like the rise of the space program. The author got it right a bit better in his book on 1978 baseball though. Put it this way, there is a lot more said in this book about the eventual 1970 NL Champion Reds due to 1962 no-hitter pitcher Bo Belinsky ending his big league days there (May’s chapter (no hitter was on May 5th) is all about his life and times) than there is to why the 1961 NL Champion Reds faltered in their attempt to repeat! I’m in the August chapter and no reference to the team that would finish third at 98-64 so far! I guess assumed that the Dodgers and Giants (who both got spotlighted with their own chapters similar to the Met one (April and July respectively)) just too much of a pair of steamrollers late as they were on that collision course towards the Play-In series.

Monday July 28th. My plan is to toast Tony Gwynn’s statue with a local craft beer sold at Petco named for his .394 average in 1994. What are the chances I’ll actually be watching a few Mets’ final games as Mets 😑🤣 All kidding aside, it’d better not be a battle between two members of the scrum for the 3rd Wild Card slot!

https://www.nr4ptproject.com/2129309/episodes/17102087-the-early-years-of-snl-s04e16-richard-benjamin-rickie-lee-jones-4-7-79 Podcast discusses Saturday Night Live episode that features the pre-tape of Chico Escuela trying to make a comeback with the Mets.

Don’t feel like going down a rabbit hole to see if this is in fact evidence of a MLBS, but for some reason Keenan Thompson was sporting a Met uniform while in a Jack Black segment for his debut Saturday Night Live episode back in 2003. Saturday Night Network (@thesnlnetwork) • Instagram photo WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM 9,084 likes, 21 comments - thesnlnetwork on April 6, 2025: "2003: Jack Black is the SNL host for Kenan Thompson’s first episode 2025: 438 episodes later, Jack Black and Kenan Thompson are reunited".

My tour of the Mets minor league stadiums, kinda, continues with Spring Training action this Saturday vs the Nats and Sunday vs the Fish

Get ceetar working on the archives! Wanted to make an Untappd account for the pod, with checkins back dated to the date of the episode uploads!

Billy Wagner will be the latest ex-Met to get a number retired by a franchise that isn’t the Mets this August in Houston. Part of a weekend celebration for his Cooperstown induction, and I believe a yet to be announced Astro Hall of Fame 2025 Class.

I suspect an Astro. I was hoping that Sabathia would go in with Cleveland's logos, but he actually spent more time in the Bronx and I'm not sure he never wore a Cleveland cap with the C.

If he wasn’t a such a noted figure in baseball/NYC baseball history, I’d wager Bobby Valentine’s father-in-law’s passing would have been noted in the 2016 version of this thread!

KC Chief QB’s maternal Grandfather = Ex-99-00 Met reliever’s father-in-law.

Pat Mahomes’ father-in-law was admitted into hospice care https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/patrick-mahomes-grandfather-is-in-hospice-says-mom-randi-mahomes/

There is a story about that happening to David Wells the morning of his perfect game. But that could have been the massive hangover he was dealing with. Then again the story includes him and Jimmy Fallon just drinking the night away at Saturday Night Live’s season finale afterparty hours earlier. One problem, SNL’s finale that season, the 23rd, aired a week earlier, 5/9/1998, while Wells’ perfecto was on 5/17/1998. I supppse I could give the faulty narrator credit for the perfect game happening on a Sunday though In any event, obviously not in Koufax’s case when it comes to major inebriation the previous day, I think most of those stories come from distracted hurlers forgetting the plan, as well coaches/managers projecting the idea that rotations were meaningless, and they could have had the same guy start games in a row if they wanted to. So I’ve taken that notion about not telling a pitcher they were starting until that day, with a ton of salt grains

Checking out the Mets vs the Durham Bulls (where’s Nuke & Crash!?) on Wednesday Aug 21st.

Seeing the Ponies rumble with the Reading Fightin’ Phils on Tuesday, August 20th.

Should be there a week from Monday for the start of the Independence Day Week festivities in the Capital. No giveaways that day though 🤷🏻‍♂️

I’m carded at Citi just about all the time. It’s probably pretty much a rule to card every one at sporting arenas. Funny story, I inadvertently narc’d a Citi vendor for selling a little too early on a Sunday because I told an alcohol control supervisor that the kid did ask for my ID before pouring the beer!

Sadly the craft brewery in the parking garage literally closed the days I was out there in 2022…doesn’t look like anything has taken over the space (next door to a Subway, so it was meant for retail setups), nor does it seem the brewery got back into the craft beer game (ie contract distribution only) in the ensuing time. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Beer hall is still rocking, they were in midst of moving their home base to the downtown district, I forget where they were moving from though but now they are close to the arena where the Heat play in. Not sure if I’ll get over there as mostly I’ll be hitting up Wynwood and South Beach as well as the game.

Heading back for the Sunday July 21st game.

Sounds like a Jon Weissman way of doing things.

Just did a surface Google search for a Floridian college with “Stone” in the name. Did come up with what looks like a trade school in Miami, but might be too small for the sake of a “Stony Brook!? You mean…?” bit There is a mini beer fest going on before the Saturday game. A craft brewery has a beer hall inside the stadium proper, and they have an American style lager named Marlin Lager. And there is a craft brewery in a parking garage complex across the street. Should have a thing or two about all three for Mets On Tap

Heading down to Miami to catch two of the Mets games later in the month.